Date of Publication: Jul 16, 2021

Author: Robert Van Buskirk, Lawrence Kachione, Gilbert Robert, Rachel Kanyerere, Christina Gilbert & James Majoni

Summary:

Low-income sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) households rely on wood for cooking for the simple reason that it is the lowest cost cooking fuel. Thus, full attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) requires developing clean cooking technologies that are cheaper than wood cooking. This study provides a comparative marginal levelized cost of energy (MLCOE) analysis for wood cooking vs. innovative solar electric cooking technologies. The two key off-grid solar technologies evaluated are: (1) direct-use DC solar (DDS) electricity for cooking applications, and (2) high-cycle-life lithium titanate (LTO) batteries. MLCOE is reported in USD/kWh for energy delivered to cooked food. A low median MLCOE of USD 0.125/kWh is attained using DDS electricity which is output directly by a solar panel with little or no intervening electricity storage and few electricity conversion and control costs. DDS solar panel output has variable voltage and current that is managed by a specialized DDS cooker. LTO battery-regulated electricity has a median MLCOE of USD 0.24/kWh which declines to USD 0.16/kWh with electric pressure cooker use. The distributions of MLCOE for wood-based, DDS-electric, and LTO-electric cooking strongly overlap. The MLCOE cost model suggests specific means for modifying input costs, component lifetime, and system efficiency to improve solar MLCOE further relative to wood MLCOE. Full article

Link to Full Reading:

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/14/4293