...
2012
...
Trip
...
to
...
El
...
Centro
...
Solar
...
in
...
Sabana
...
Grande,
...
Nicaragua
...
Xochitl
...
Cruz,
...
Jocie
...
Kluger,
...
Emma
...
Lejeune,
...
Meghan
...
Hilbert,
...
Alex
...
Huang
...
and
...
Tim
...
Bond
...
(Tim
...
writing)
...
of
...
the
...
CEE3090
...
Solar
...
Cooker
...
Project
...
visited
...
with
...
our
...
collaborators
...
at
...
...
...
...
...
and
...
...
...
this
...
spring
...
in
...
Sabana
...
Grande
...
during
...
spring
...
break
...
(March
...
16
...
through
...
25).
...
Lee
...
Fritz
...
and
...
Jenna
...
Morse
...
of
...
...
...
...
documented
...
the
...
projects
...
on
...
film.
...
We
...
left
...
Ithaca
...
on
...
Friday
...
night
...
driving
...
to
...
JFK
...
to
...
catch
...
a
...
6am
...
flight
...
to
...
San
...
Jose,
...
Costa
...
Rica
...
followed
...
by
...
a
...
flight
...
to
...
Managua.
...
...
...
,
...
a
...
skilled
...
furniture
...
maker,
...
joined
...
the
...
team
...
in
...
Managua
...
for
...
the
...
third
...
year,
...
lending
...
her
...
considerable
...
skill
...
and
...
talent.
...
The
...
primary
...
intent
...
of
...
the
...
project
...
for
...
this
...
year
...
was
...
to
...
design
...
and
...
build
...
versions
...
of
...
cookers
...
designed
...
for
...
prefabrication
...
and
...
easy
...
shipment.
...
The
...
standard
...
cooker
...
design
...
is
...
30
...
inches
...
square
...
(exterior),
...
12
...
inches
...
high
...
and
...
weighs
...
roughly
...
60
...
pounds.
...
It
...
is
...
an
...
effective
...
cooker,
...
but
...
is
...
not
...
easy
...
to
...
ship,
...
especially
...
with
...
its
...
heavy
...
and
...
brittle
...
double
...
glazed
...
top. Click here for pictures from our trip.
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
Click [here|SolarCooker:2012 Nic Trip Pictures] for pictures from our trip. {center} !3 in 1.jpg|border=1,width=798,height=228! {center} |
Our
...
team
...
brought
...
2
...
new
...
designs.
...
A
...
major
...
point
...
of
...
the
...
designs
...
was
...
to
...
use
...
materials
...
readily
...
available
...
in
...
Nicaragua
...
and
...
methods
...
the
...
Solar
...
Women
...
already
...
understand.
...
The
...
first
...
cooker
...
used
...
wooden
...
framing,
...
fiberglass
...
insulation
...
and
...
sheet
...
metal
...
typical
...
of
...
the
...
cookers
...
produced
...
at
...
the
...
Centro
...
Solar.
...
This
...
cooker
...
weighed
...
about
...
50
...
pounds
...
and
...
used
...
Reynolds
...
cooking
...
bags
...
stretched
...
on
...
thin
...
metal
...
frames
...
instead
...
of
...
glass
...
for
...
the
...
top
...
glazing.
...
Both
...
metal
...
cases
...
were
...
hinged
...
to
...
allow
...
easy
...
folding.
...
The
...
cooker
...
was
...
partially
...
disassembled
...
and
...
packed
...
in
...
a
...
cardboard
...
box
...
which
...
was
...
checked
...
onto
...
the
...
airplane
...
for
...
the
...
trip,
...
to
...
prove
...
its
...
transportability.
...
We
...
reassembled
...
the
...
cooker
...
after
...
arrival
...
in
...
Sabana
...
Grande.
...
The
...
second
...
cooker
...
used
...
interior
...
and
...
exterior
...
sheet
...
metal
...
boxes
...
framed
...
with
...
light
...
aluminum
...
angle
...
stock.
...
The
...
boxes
...
were
...
separated
...
by
...
a
...
layer
...
of
...
fiberglass
...
board
...
insulation.
...
The
...
tops
...
of
...
the
...
two
...
metal
...
cases
...
were
...
tied
...
together
...
by
...
screw
...
connection
...
to
...
a
...
rectangular
...
wooden
...
frame
...
which
...
supported
...
the
...
door/top.
...
The
...
door/top
...
also
...
used
...
cooking
...
bags
...
stretched
...
on
...
thin
...
metal
...
frames
...
as
...
glazing.
...
This
...
cooker
...
weighed
...
approximately
...
30
...
pounds
...
and
...
was
...
brought
...
with
...
us
...
inside
...
a
...
suitcase.
...
...
...
...
...
,
...
a
...
Professor
...
of
...
Mechanical
...
Engineering
...
at
...
the
...
University
...
of
...
Wisconsin
...
Platteville,
...
who
...
is
...
a
...
collaborator
...
with
...
the
...
Solar
...
Women
...
and
...
has
...
been
...
working
...
with
...
them
...
this
...
spring
...
while
...
on
...
sabbatical
...
leave.
...
He
...
has
...
worked
...
with
...
the
...
Solar
...
women
...
to
...
implement
...
a
...
design
...
by
...
Dr.
...
Richard
...
Komp,
...
a
...
long
...
term
...
collaborator
...
with
...
the
...
Solar
...
Women
...
and
...
Grupo
...
Fenix.
...
Prof.
...
Schlager
...
also
...
built
...
an
...
oven
...
of
...
his
...
own
...
design.
...
These
...
two
...
ovens
...
were
...
designed
...
to
...
use
...
polyisocyanurate
...
insulation
...
board
...
to
...
be
...
light
...
weight
...
and
...
easily
...
fold-able
...
for
...
shipment.
...
They
...
are
...
also
...
easily
...
unfolded
...
or
...
assembled
...
for
...
use.
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{center} !Lynn w 2 foldable cookers.jpg|border=1,width=275,height=207! {center} |
The
...
Solar
...
women's
...
construction
...
team
...
included
...
Nimia,
...
Alejandra,
...
Ramuldah,
...
Reyna,
...
Yelba
...
and
...
Maria
...
Magdelena.
...
This
...
team
...
is
...
very
...
experienced,
...
having
...
built
...
more
...
than
...
50
...
cookers.
...
The
...
first
...
part
...
of
...
each
...
of
...
our
...
visits
...
is
...
a
...
technical
...
exchange
...
in
...
which
...
all
...
the
...
designs
...
under
...
consideration
...
for
...
the
...
solution
...
of
...
the
...
particular
...
problems
...
being
...
considered
...
are
...
explained
...
in
...
adequate
...
detail
...
for
...
all
...
the
...
team
...
members
...
to
...
understand.
...
Prof.
...
Schlager
...
and
...
Nimia
...
presented
...
the
...
two
...
designs
...
finished
...
or
...
under
...
construction
...
at
...
the
...
Solar
...
Center.
...
We
...
decided
...
to
...
build
...
two
...
new
...
cookers
...
during
...
the
...
week,
...
one
...
essentially
...
implementing
...
the
...
fold-able
...
design
...
with
...
all
...
the
...
materials
...
being
...
readily
...
available
...
in
...
Nicaragua
...
and
...
the
...
second
...
using
...
the
...
lighter
...
of
...
the
...
Cornell
...
designs
...
with
...
lower
...
sides
...
than
...
our
...
design
...
and
...
the
...
door
...
on
...
the
...
top.
...
There
...
were
...
enough
...
workers
...
to
...
allow
...
construction
...
of
...
a
...
solar
...
dryer
...
as
...
well.
...
We
...
split
...
into
...
3
...
construction
...
teams
...
mixing
...
members
...
of
...
the
...
various
...
source
...
teams
...
to
...
include
...
people
...
with
...
relevant
...
expertize
...
on
...
each
...
team
...
with
...
members
...
from
...
all
...
groups
...
so
...
as
...
much
...
learning
...
was
...
transferred
...
as
...
possible.
...
The
...
fold-able
...
cooker
...
was
...
built
...
by
...
Reyna,
...
Yelba,
...
Maghan,
...
Jocie
...
and
...
Tim.
...
The
...
cooker
...
with
...
the
...
door
...
on
...
the
...
top
...
was
...
built
...
by
...
Lynn,
...
Alex,
...
Nimia
...
and
...
Maria
...
Magdelena.
...
The
...
dryer
...
was
...
built
...
by
...
Ramuldah,
...
Alejandra,
...
Emma,
...
Xichotl
...
and
...
Karen.
...
All
...
three
...
were
...
finished
...
by
...
Friday
...
and
...
all
...
included
...
some
...
experimental
...
features
...
that
...
will
...
need
...
observation
...
during
...
the
...
first
...
few
...
months
...
of
...
use.
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
{center} !dryer and light weight.jpg|border=1! !new foldable w logo a.jpg|thumbnail,border=1! {center} |
Muchas
...
gracias
...
from
...
all
...
of
...
us
...
to
...
Lyndsey
...
Chapman
...
of
...
Grupo
...
Fenix
...
who
...
organized
...
our
...
visit
...
and
...
took
...
incredibly
...
good
...
care
...
of
...
us.
...
Muchas gracias to Susan Kinne for her incredible vision and energy which she has put to effective work with Las Mujerese Solares de Totogalpa, Grupo Fenix and La Montaña Solar.