Experimental Evaluation of a Small Storage Cooking Pot using a 12 V Battery-Powered Solar DC Cooking Stove

Abstract. A small storage cooking pot is experimentally evaluated using a 12 V DC cooking stove powered by AGM batteries. Two 12 V 100 AH AGM deep-cycle batteries supply power to the stove and are charged via a 450 W solar panel and a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) charge controller, enabling continuous 24 hr operation. The storage cooking pot consists of a black 1-litre stainless steel pot placed inside a larger 5-litre black stainless-steel pot. The bottom space between the two pots contains 0.5 kg of erythritol as the storage material. The cooking setup, including the storage pot and the 12 V DC stove, is placed inside a wonderbag insulating cooker to reduce heat loss and store thermal energy during experimental heating tests. The storage cooking pot is heated using three water-heating loads of 1.0, 0.50, and 0.25 kg in the inner pot for 3 hrs to investigate simultaneous cooking and storage of thermal energy. After 3 hrs of heating, the power is switched off, and fresh water is loaded into the inner pot to investigate the utilisation of stored heat using the same water heating loads of 1.0, 0.50, and 0.25 kg for an additional 3 hrs. During the storage cooking period with the power switched off, the maximum temperatures achieved by water are around 54, 74, and 86 oC for water loads of 1.0, 0.5, and 0.25 kg, respectively, showing the potential of the storage cooking pot integrated with the DC cooker and the wonderbag. After the 3-hour heat utilisation period, the final water temperatures are approximately 45, 62, and 65 oC for loads of 1.0, 0.5, and 0.25 kg, respectively.