Experimental Analysis of an Off-Grid Solar PV Cooking Solution for Households in Sub-Saharan Africa

The study introduces a solar-powered electric cooking system designed for households in sub-Saharan Africa. It uses a 330W photovoltaic (PV) panel directly connected without a battery, to ten parallel Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) heating elements mounted on a 20 cm diameter circular aluminium plate to form a “PTC hot plate.” An Arduino controller manages the load and records system data (current, voltage, power, and temperature). Cooking tests under different weather conditions showed practical performance: 0.5 kg of beans cooked in ~3 h using 1.4 kWh; 1.0 kg of beef in 1.5 h using 1.1 kWh; and 0.5 kg of rice in 1 h using 0.73 kWh. Boiling 2 liters of water took about 25 min. Sequential cooking (rice then beans), starting at 9:45 h was completed by 14:30 h. The average cooking efficiency was evaluated to be about 54%, dependent on the duration of cooking and the food type being cooked. A minimum solar irradiance of about 400 W/m2 per day was required for effective cooking. These results demonstrate that the solar PV-PTC cook stove is a viable and promising solution for meeting household cooking needs in the sub-Saharan African region.