Solar system installed at Tuleeni Children’s Home in Moshi to support solar electric cooking for up to 70 persons.
Alex prepares Uji for all 640 students in the 170 l electric pots (1 full pot, 1 half pot).
School kitchen at Magnificat School with new power lines installed to support a cooking load of up to 60 kW.
Egberth (WUL) cooks beans (~56 kg dried) for 640 students in two 170 l electric pots
atmosfair and WUL employees together with children and employees of Tuleeni Children’s Home in Moshi, Tanzania.
100l firewood stoves currently used for cooking by the first pilot school
Kitchen building of first project school
Firewood storage of first project hospital
Ensol and atmosfair staff with management of first pilot school

Summary

Total savings :80 tons CO2 per school and year
Technology transfer :PV system (10-100 kWp) with battery storage (10-150 kWh), off-grid and grid-connected; Efficient electric cooking sets with efficient electric kettles, rice cookers
Local environment :Avoidance of deforestation in the region
Further advantages :No smoke in the kitchens, preventing health damages; Time and cost savings because no firewood is needed; Multiplicative and educational effects: students get in contact with efficient electric cooking devices and renewable energies
Project partners :Watu na Umeme Ltd., Ensol Ltd.

Cooking with Solar Electricity

atmosfair provides solar electric cooking systems through subsidized and affordable long-term financing to schools and other institutions (e.g. hospitals) in Tanzania. This enables the schools to completely replace firewood and charcoal for cooking with solar electricity.

The solar system produces more electricity than is consumed for cooking over the year and is typically sized to meet the institution’s total annual electricity demand included the additional demand from electric cooking.

The solar and battery system ensures a stable power supply for schools connected to the electricity grid. In future, surplus electricity is to be fed into the national grid via net metering (e.g. during school holidays). This reduces costs for the schools and increases the proportion of renewable energy in Tanzania’s power grid.
Depending on the size of the institution (number of meals per day), the electric cooking systems include efficient electric kettles (34 – 400 litres, 5 – 18 kW) and rice cookers (23 – 30 litres, 3.0 – 4.5 kW). The kettles can be used to cook for 1000 people or more. Energy consumption is reduced by the thermal insulation in the kettle wall and lid as well as the automatic power regulation. This automatically reduces the heat output as soon as the target temperature (normally 100 °C) is reached. Despite their name, rice cookers can prepare a variety of dishes in addition to rice. Thanks to their high thermal efficiency and heat insulation, they are also one of the most energy-efficient cooking appliances in the home.

Impact on Health and Environment

Firewood and Charcoal are the main drivers for forest degradation in Africa[1] and are after agriculture an important driver for deforestation in Tanzania[2] where they constitute 90% of the cooking fuels used[3].

A recent World Bank Report[4] estimates the global external costs from cooking with polluting fuels at $2.4 trillion: adverse impacts on health ($1.4 trillion), climate ($0.2 trillion), and lost productivity ($0.8 trillion). Studies conducted by MECS (Modern Energy Cooking Services) have shown that efficient electric cooking as realized through this project can be a clean and affordable solution to this problem[5].

Current Status

Three solar-electric cooking systems are currently in operation in Tanzania. 170 litre, 9 kW boilers enable efficient solar-electric cooking for the 640 pupils at the Magnificat School. At the beginning of 2024, we decided to expand the project to Kenya. We are planning to expand the project to at least 100 schools in Tanzania and Kenya. The instalments paid by the schools will be used to finance further systems.

Our Partners

Ensol Ltd. Is a 100% Tanzanian company with headquarters in Dar es Salaam. It was founded in 2001 and is a member of the Tanzanian renewable energy umbrella organization TAREA. It is specialized in the installation of off-grid and grid-tied solar systems (up to 120 kWp) and is responsible for the design and installation of the project’s solar systems.

Watu na Umeme Ltd. (WUL) is a subsidiary of Ensol and was founded in 2015 for the development, design, management and operation of renewable energy projects. WUL is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the solar electric cooking systems as well as the facilitation and management of the installment financing for the schools.

 

 

[1] Kissinger 2012: Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/65505/6316-drivers-deforestation-report.pdf

[2] Nike Doggart et al. 2020, Agriculture is the main driver of deforestation in Tanzania, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab6b35/pdf

[3] United Republic of Tanzania (URT). 2019. Tanzania Mainland. Key Indicators Report, https://www.nbs.go.tz/nbs/takwimu/hbs/2017_18_HBS_Key_Indicators_Report_Engl.pdf

[4] The State of Access to Modern Energy Cooking Services, https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/energy/publication/the-state-of-access-to-modern-energy-cooking-services

[5] Cooking with Electricity – A Cost Perspective, https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/34566

Your contact

Zoltán Müller-Karpe
Project Developer
M.Sc. Physics
+49 (0) 30 120 84 80 – 64