Browsing by Author "Sebunya, Steven"

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Development and evaluation of a sustainable solar cooker for operations in Uganda
(African Journal of Emerging Issues, 2025-01-27) Sebunya, Steven; Sendegeya, AlMas ; Ssempijja, Maureen Nalubowa
Purpose of the Study: The research focused on developing and evaluating a solar cooker as a sustainable energy solution to address the cooking needs in Africa, using Uganda as a case study. Statement of the Problem: While solar energy technologies have the potential to enhance energy sustainability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, current solar cookers face limitations in addressing local cooking habits, energy demands, and geographical conditions in Uganda. Methodology: The research established energy requirements for cooking based on common food types, average household size, and average solar irradiation in Uganda. A solar box cooker was designed and modeled using SOLIDWORKS software. Material selection and cost analysis were conducted for economic feasibility, and the optical and thermal performance was analyzed using COMSOL Multi-Physics software. A prototype was constructed using locally available materials to assess manufacturability and cost implications. Results: A box-type solar cooker was developed with inner reflector walls at an optimal angle and internal insulation for better heat retention and efficiency. The cooker, with an aperture area of 0.1897 m², meets the thermal requirements for cooking common foods in major regions of Uganda. All materials used are locally available, making the cooker appropriate, sustainable, and affordable. Conclusion: The proposed solar cooker offers a viable alternative to traditional cooking methods in Uganda. It effectively cooks common foods, is cost-effective, and provides environmental benefits, reducing reliance on charcoal.
Development and evaluation of a sustainable solar cooker for operations in Uganda
(Kyambogo University (Unpublished work), 2024-10) Sebunya, Steven
The high level of increasing technological advancements and human population globally have resulted into escalated energy demands. With cooking accounting for almost 90% of all the household energy consumption in developing countries, traditional firewood stoves and improved charcoal stove are still dominant regardless of their negative impact. In Uganda, there is need of adopting clean and renewable non-depleting alternative energy sources among which includes solar cooking technologies. Many regional areas across Uganda and especially in the Northern and Eastern, receive approximately 4–5 kWh/m² per day of solar energy which is commendable for most solar cooking technologies. This study deals with the development and evaluation of a novel box-type direct solar cooker while putting in to consideration the existing cooking dynamics, solar irradiation and locally available materials for operation in Ugandan. For optimization, the cooking energy requirements for common foods like rice, matoke, and cassava, along with the average solar irradiation in Uganda, were considered to determine the cooker’s aperture area, which was calculated to be 0.1897 m². The cooker was further developed with internal side-wall reflectors to improve its performance efficiency and these were calculated as 340, 560, 430, and 430 due to south, north, west, and east respectively. Solar data and geographical data for Mbarara city (Having the lowest amount of daily Global Horizontal Irradiation (GHI) among the selected regional areas) were considered in the module design and simulation for performance feasibility. Using COMSOL Multiphysics 5.5 software, thermal analysis and optical analysis were conducted for the systems performance validation. Finally, locally available materials were considered for costing and construction of the developed solar for both economic and manufacturing feasibility. The cooker was costed at 210 USD with a payback period of 1 and 1.3 years while transitioning from cooking using charcoal and electricity respectively.