On 29 August 2019 the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Prof Ashmore Mawire from the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences delivered his inaugural address.

During his address titled “Solar cookers with thermal energy storage: A sustainable cooking solution for developing countries”, Prof Mawire evaluated the three main types of solar cookers – direct, indirect and oven solar cookers – and their basic operating principles.

He also briefly reviewed and discussed how these cookers can be used in conjunction with solar thermal energy storage (TES) units to enhance their usefulness during periods when solar radiation is not available.

Prof Mawire focused on solar cookers using both sensible heat thermal energy storage (SHTES) and latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES), and also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of solar cookers with TES.

“The most viable options for solar cookers with TES for developing countries are oven-type and direct-focusing solar cookers because they are relatively cheap to fabricate and maintain,” he said.

“On the other hand, when issues of efficiency and safety are concerned, indirect solar cookers with TES are more suitable for community scale cooking, even though they are more expensive to construct.”

He added that, rather than using polluting fossil fuels and liquid petroleum gas, solar cookers with TES are better alternatives for people in rural areas of developing countries.

Prof Mawire also identified a lack of research on solar cookers with thermal energy storage. He shared certain recommendations, including recent and future work to be done on solar cookers with thermal energy storage by the solar thermal research group at the campus in Mahikeng.

More about the researcher

Prof Ashmore Mawire is a Y2 National Research Foundation-rated researcher in the School of Physics. He is the principal researcher in the solar thermal research group of the Material Science Innovation and Modelling (MASIM) research focus area.

His research interests include electronic instrumentation, renewable energy systems and solar thermal energy storage technology.

 Prof Ashmore Mawire poses with his proud family after delivering a successful inaugural address.