Solar Cookers: They’re not just for Greenpeace
Solar cookers are not only part of our solar history, but quite possibly, part of our solar future as well. Solar cookers are thought to have originated around 1767. A Swiss naturalist named Horace de Saussure is believed to be the first solar cooking pioneer. Since the solar cookers invention, it has taken on three basic forms; the box solar cooker, the panel solar cooker, and the parabolic solar cooker. Like many renewable energy applications, each design has distinct advantages and drawbacks over traditional cookers as well as other solar designs.
The box solar cooker is the simplest in design and therefore, the easiest to recreate. Directions on building one’s own box solar cooker can be found easily with an internet search. Box solar ovens can also be purchased commercially and range in price from $50.00 to upwards of $200.00. Typical box solar cookers are lightweight, easily set-up, and fairly safe. They do not lend themselves towards the most intense cooking temperatures. However solar cooking proponents are quick to point out that high temperatures aren’t necessary for cooking. The lower the temperature, the more time needed to cook. Also, food cannot exceed 212F until all of water has been evaporated, so really, any hotter than that is unnecessary. Many proponents also describe boiling times in terms of hours.
Panel solar cookers are one step up in complexity from the box cooker. They can typically be assembled in an hour or so. These are widely produced in developing nations. They can be mass produced inexpensively and are easy to use. They reach generally higher temperatures but are less suited to cooking in more temperate environments. Manufactured units are available, though harder to find.
The third solar cooker, the parabolic cooker, is the most variable in appearance. Some are very large exceeding 10 feet in diameter and others are so small they can be taken as a backpacking cook stove. They units available commercially are also variable; the relatively simple SolaReflex by Clear dome is 2 ft by 2 ft and retails for $89.00. Parabolic cookers can also be found for prices in excess of $200.00. Parabolic cookers can also be dangerous. They can create bright spots that can do damage to the eyes as well as hot spots that could burn you or your food.
The calculated hurdle rate includes a safety margin because the highest measure of Re is used. This is not to say that Re could never succeed .
1818 gothic novel, Frankenstein was written during the Post-Enlightenment era, early 19th century, which challenged traditional values of Religion furthermore, the advances in science and discovery arose to take place. Shelley has used Victor Frankenstein, a young enthusiast towards science and discovery to indicate the advances in science and discovery. Victor is on the search to discover the secrets of Heaven and Earth, “It is the secrets of Heaven and Earth that I desire to learn” within chapter 2 this quote is delivered, it symbolizes that Mary want’s Victor to challenge the values of Religion and advance his search in discovery. Shelley’s use of sci...
Shelly's portrayal of Victor Frankenstein is morose and conniving. Frankenstein has sacrificed his entire life to the pursuit of knowledge, though his pursuits are tabooed and deemed unlawful- they are condemned akin to witchcraft. With the advent in science and experimentation during the19th century, Shelley and many others feared (and still fear) the secrets of nature would be uncovered. It was common belief that nature was the purview of God, not man, and that its secrets were best appreciated without an answer. Frankenstein's pursuits are thus considered to have "the tendency to weaken your affections, and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures (33).” Accordingly, Shelly exhibits the dichotomies of nature and scienc...
Although Frankenstein is established 1818, Mary Shelley’s concerns about scientific progress are still relevant to the modern day of the scientific world. Frankenstein’s quest for scientific
Shelley’s “Frankenstein” was written in early 19th century England at a time when Romanticism was challenging aspects of scientific discovery and rationalism uncovered during the Enlightenment. In particular, through the depiction of the protagonist’s rampant thirst for knowledge, Shelley warns us of the exploitations of technology, as Victor the protagonist warns Walton that he should; “Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge…”. Not only does this foreshadow Victor’s downfall, it also ironic, as Victor was only looking to benefit mankind by breaking, what he thought, was the imaginary boundary between life and death. Instead, he ends up performing the exact opposite by creating an abomination. Frankenstein’s aversion to his creation is obvious, as it is highlighted in a conversation between Frankenstein’s brother and himself, in which Frankenstein states, “often did my human nature turn with loathing from my occupation.” “It was a most beautiful season…but my eyes were insensible to the charms of nature.” Frankenstein seems to represent an amalgamation of both passion and reason, Rationalism and Romanticism, and Shelley shows how someone gripped by both genius and passion can become intoxicated with a thirst for power and emotion that will
Three types of heat transfers help solar cookers use the sun’s energy to cook food. Heat is always transferred from the warmer object to the cooler object. Heat is also transferred to and through some materials better than others. The three types of heat transfers are radiation, conduction, and convection. Convection is the heat transfer by movement through materials such as air or a liquid. Materials like these are called mediums. Convection is the primary way heat can be transferred through liquids and gases. To classify a heat transfer as convection, hot air has to rise up to equally heat the air around it. Box solar cookers have to retain this hot air to cook food, so the cookers have to have lids with a transparent covering. The transparent covering shuts in all of the hot air and keeps out the cool air. The second heat transfer is the transfer of heat between two objects, or substances, that are directly in contact with each other. This heat transfer, called conduction is the primary way heat can be transferred through solids. In gases and liquids, conduction works poorly because the atoms have a great deal of space between them. Since they have a lot of space between each other, they can’t communicate heat to one another. The solid, aluminum foil, is commonly used in homemade solar ovens because it is a metal. It is well known metal is a great conductor of heat. Since metal (aluminum) is a great conductor of heat, whatever comes in contact with it will gradually absorb the heat from the metal. The third type of heat transfer is radiation. Radiation is the transfer of energy (heat) through space by electromagnetic waves. Solar energy reaches Earth by radiation (Pearson 485). When an energy wave comes directly in contact with...
Mary Shelley’s seminal science fiction novel Frankenstein cautions man against becoming “greater then his nature does allow” as Victor’s ironic claim “a new species would bless me as their creator” is ultimately juxtaposed with a subsequent self-loathing of his creation “became a thing such as even Dante could not conceive”. Further intertextuality occurs when Walton writes “therefore do not be alarmed for my safety or if I should come back to you as worn and woeful as the ‘Ancient Mariner” serves to resonate with victor’s remorse, metaphorically hung around his neck. Throughout Frankenstein, Mary Shelley identifies nature and familial interaction as a means to prevent the contextually profane religious allusive pursuit of “a country of eternal light”. This is further emphasised through religious allusion and metaphor as Walton asserts his compulsion has arisen from “an enthusiasm which elevates me to heaven”. Walton’s hindrance to Victor’s cautioning celebrates Shelley’s ultimate Romantic idealistic yet familial French Revolution assertions; a return to traditional natural and human interaction is vital in repairing this contemporary division between science and ethical
Frankenstein, in his Faustian quest for knowledge, comes to symbolise ‘the man of science’ within the text. His family background and social position places him as a man of the enlightenment. It is therefore arguable that Frankenstein represents the empirical strand of Enlightenment science and thus his quest for knowledge symbolises a large push for scientific knowledge in the 19th century. However, Shelly portrays Frankenstein’s project as defiling nature. This is seen in Frankenstein’s assemblage of the creature.
Wilhelm Hallwachs discovered that combining copper and cuprous oxide produced a photosensitive material in 1904. In the next year, Albert Einstein completed his work on the photoelectric effect and presented his paper on it. However, it was William G. Bailley of Carnegie Steel who created the present basic design of the solar panel consisting of copper coils and an insulated box. The period after the Second World War saw increased demand for solar power as energy needs went up and supplies could not keep up. There was an explosion of passive solar buildings in the country and that spurred more investments into the solar industry. It was at Bell Labs that the silicon photovoltaic cell was developed by Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson. It was the first cell that stored enough energy to run contemporary electric
In her book entitled “Frankenstein”, Mary Shelley strongly opposes the progress enriched by the Industrial Age in the nineteenth century and develops her argument throughout it to show the consequences led by the thirst for knowledge and discoveries. She demonstrates a person can dramatically change due to the danger he is exposed when questioning supernatural forces and experimenting with science, which may play an enormous role on the moral, ethical, and religious aspects of his life later on. With this intention, Shelley portrays the three main characters: Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the creature to exhibit the theme of dangerous knowledge that becomes more observable as the story is progressing. At first she studies their desires
The first solar water heaters came into play in the 18th century. A French-Swiss scientist in Maryland did an experiment to see how much heat window glass would actually trap. By building a box and putting different glass tops on it, he learned he could reach the boiling point inside the box. Another person developed this idea and decided to put tanks of water into them, and sure enough that w...
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has been a timeless classic, firmly entrenched in popular culture as evidenced through derivative films, video games, plays, and other works. Logically, there must be some universal theme or ideology that transcends the boundaries of time periods in order to appeal to an ever-dynamic and diverse audience for over a century. Therefore, it is important to ask what Mary Shelley's intentions were in creating Frankenstein. Was it to explore an action-consequence relationship? Perhaps, potential implications of future scientific advancement? While it is impossible to find a definitive answer, the idea of authorial intent has gripped almost every influential piece of literature. If Shelley's intent in creating Frankenstein was highly
Preview: Today I will discuss the potential that solar power has to become this country’s main supply of energy and the latest research that can make solar power more efficient and cost effective. I will also present the environmental benefits that come with using solar power over other and more harmful forms of energy.
Solar thermal energy is dead! A solar thermal heating system can cost upwards of $7,000 to install and it most likely won't even save you too much money. This is why many people debate over whether they should use a solar thermal water heating system, because they think they are saving money, or an inexpensive traditional water heating system. A traditional heating system is a system that is powered off of electricity, gas, oil or some other fuel. A solar thermal heating system uses the energy from the sun, hence “solar”, and it turns that energy into hot water to either heat a home or to provide domestic hot water. The energy from the sun is captured by energy collectors, also known as solar panels. The water is heated inside the panels and then distributed throughout the home for use or stored in a tank for later use. The ideas behind this sound great, but in reality that is not the case.Solar thermal energy is not the best choice for home heating a home or hot water heating.
...ct solar radiation onto a single point above the mirror. The parabolic dish receiver is ran by a computer and uses a dual-axis system for tracking the sun. A Stirling engine is used for some of these systems to generate electricity. With these receiver focal points, temperatures can reach higher than 100°C. At this temperature, energy created is efficient.