Design Scope for Solar Cooker Product Prepared by STEWART CRAINE SAM ANDREWS SCOPE OF WORKS For

IUK

APRIL 2020

Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product i DISCLAIMER

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of Innovate UK.

While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, the author and Innovate UK does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this publication.

Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The overall objective of the Scope Of Works is to outline the requirements of bidders to provide a solar powered electric food cooker pot, with associated mechanical, electrical and software engineering requirements. The solar cooker shall follow the concept as shown below:

Whereby the solar cooker shall operate from a solar PV system, the heater element shall be DC voltage powered, the machine shall run from either a battery or directly from a solar PV array and the solar cooker shall have supporting software to operate a telemetry system and Pay-As-You-Go meter for easy financing of the product. All components shall be modular depending on end-user requirements, including disabling the cooker in the event of non- payment by the customer. The key design feature is that the product shall automate the process - ie. the product shall be capable of turning on at a given time and turning off when sufficient energy has reached the food (not time-based), given that the solar input energy may fluctuate. While the Scope of Works focuses on unpressurized cooking, either pressurized cooking is acceptable (eg. multicooker) but unpressurized (eg. rice cooker) is also acceptable depending on the design firm recommendations.

Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...... III

TABLE OF CONTENTS...... V

1 PROJECT INTRODUCTION...... 1 1.1 BACKGROUND...... 1 1.2 PROJECT PARTNERS...... 1 1.2.1 Innovate UK...... 1 1.2.2 Village Infrastructure Angels...... 1 1.3 PROJECT RATIONALE...... 2 1.4 PROJECT DESCRIPTION...... 4 1.5 PROJECT OUTCOMES...... 6 1.5.1 Hardware...... 6 1.5.2 Software...... 7 1.6 PROJECT BUDGET...... 1

2 SCOPE OF WORKS...... 2 2.1 MECHANICAL DESIGN...... 3 2.1.1 Housing...... 4 2.2 ELECTRICAL DESIGN...... 5 2.2.2 Solar Controller...... 6 2.3.1 Minimum Requirements...... 11

APPENDIX A: HEADING...... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.

APPENDIX B: HEADING...... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.

APPENDIX C: HEADING...... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.

Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product v GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

The following glossary of terms and abbreviations are specific to this report.

ABC Food waste that could be avoided in the first place through improved efficiency and planning to reduce spillages, spoilage and unnecessary disposal. AC Alternating Current DC Direct Current HH Households IUK Innovate United Kingdom(UK) PAYG Pay As You Go VIA Village Infrastructure Angels

Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product vi 1 PROJECT INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND Starting in September 2019, Innovate UK has agreed to support the innovative work on the UK-based company Village Infrastructure Angels Ltd via the Energy Catalyst program, with a common focus on bringing better energy and infrastructure to low income villages in emerging markets, particularly those that live offgrid and may not have access to reliable electricity, with a focus on using solar energy for improved food chain services. The partnership will be at minimum 3 years in length, with an initial 18 month period focused on the first development iteration of new products including field trials, and the second 18 month period focused on refinement of the first products based on field trial feedback. The two main areas of focus for this Solarizing Food project are to improve 1st generation solar powered mills that VIA developed with its partner Project Support Services (www.psspng.com) in earlier years, and to also develop a 1st generation electric solar cooking product.

1.2 PROJECT PARTNERS

1.2.1 INNOVATE UK

Innovate UK (part of UK Research and Innovation), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Department for International Development (DFID) is investingin innovation projects as part of the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and Transforming Energy Access (TEA) programme. The aim is to support highly innovative, market-focused energy solutions in any technology or sector. Projects must encourage the development of products and services that help countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia or both regions access secure, low cost and low carbon energy. They must be targeted at people, public services and local enterprises who are unable to afford or access existing solutions, or who lack the time or expertise to successfully use those solutions. Three elements of the energy ‘trilemma’ muse be addressed - cost, emissions and the security of energy supply or access to energy. This project is focused on mid-stage for industrial research, and has been accepted to the 5th round of Energy Catalyst.

1.2.2 VILLAGE INFRASTRUCTURE ANGELS

Village Infrastructure Angels (VIA) is a group of concerned individuals and organizations that is helping rural villages in developing countries to access the infrastructure they need to reduce poverty and improve living standards. This includes helping 1 billion people gain access to electricity for the first time, agricultural machinery to reduce manual labour when processing crops by hand, and water pumps for irrigation and drinking water. Further details

Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product 1 are available on www.villageinfrastructure.org.

1.3 PROJECT RATIONALE

Solar power is one of several renewable energy sources that can be used to replace these fossil fuel, and while the use of white LEDs for lighting has been rapidly accepted as a viable market transformation opportunity, little attention has so far been paid to daytime uses of energy for the poor, which are often related to farm productivity, such as agro-processing, refrigeration and cooking.

Significant challenges exist in transforming the offgrid fossil fuel markets towards a commercially viable renewable energy market, including small populations, geographic dispersion in the worlds' largest ocean, relatively high transportation costs, and susceptibility to natural disasters. To assist in overcoming these barriers, Innovate UK is providing VIA with funding to develop innovative products aimed at targeting fossil fuel or emission generating products with clean, safe, solar powered alternatives. This project seeks to assist in that mission, describing the technical requirements for engineering a solar cooker product, although the components used to make up the system will be used are mostly mature technologies.

Rural electrification and “access to electricity” is not defined by any organization as the provision of lighting and phone-charging only, but must also include productive end uses of electricity such as agro-processing and cooking technologies. As long as women and children continue to beat crops with sticks and stones or spending hours every day over open fire, the United Nations’ goal of attaining Energy for All by 2030 cannot be attained. Such investments in rural villages may have longer payback periods than lighting and phone-charging, and thus may be harder to mobilize investment for, but with rapidly decreasing costs for solar power, longer-lasting batteries and smart monitoring technologies, this project aims to demonstrate such hurdles are not insurmountable.

Typical fuels used for the global poor are wood, charcoal, agricultural residues like corn cobs, biogas, LPG, kerosene and sometimes kerosene. In some focused areas, coal may be used. As is well known, fuels other than LPG and electricity cause considerable indoor air pollution and are more likely to cause burns and fires to both people and property, sometimes resulting in death. Many millions of improved cookstoves have decreased how much wood and charcoal is used in fuels and decreased indoor air pollution, but can tend to have short lives or can have low utilization compared to the traditional open fire method. Unimproved cookstoves have efficiencies of typically 10-15% while improved cookstoves can improve this up to around 30%, with 30-50% savings in wood consumption.

Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product 2 Fuel consumption is often 3-6 kg per day or 1-3 tonnes of fuelwood per year, emitting 2-6 tonne CO2 per year. If 2 billion people are using such stoves globally, these 400 million stoves could be emitting as much as 1-2.5 Gigatonnes of CO2 per year, a significant portion of 36 Gt emitted globally per year.

Specific fuel consumption for improved cookstoves is generally around 0.5 kg of fuel per kg of cooked food, or 1.2 kg for non-improved cookstoves1. Based on 4-5 kWh of energy per kg of wood (depending on moisture content), this translates to 2-5 kWh required per kg of cooked food for biomass stoves, and cooking time for a pot of rice of 30-50 minutes including the time required to get the fire started. By comparison, modern electric cooking with a resistive or induction stovetop is generally 70-80% efficient, with little resistive stoves performing almost as efficient as induction according to some tests2, but this apparently higher efficiency does not take into account the conversion of coal or gas into electricity in the first place, rather than being used directly for fuel. A coal power plant is 30-40% efficient while a gas plant is 50-60% efficient, and there is usually 5-10% of losses to transmit electricity from the power plant to the house. Thus, overall the efficiency of modern electric cooking is only 20-40% compared to the energy content of the fuel, basically no better than an improved cookstove, with no improvement in CO2 emissions when using coal, just a movement of them from the house to the power plant, but up to 50% less emissions if gas is used.

Similar test results3 for typical cooking processes using a kerosene stove for normal open pot cooking of rice, of rice and pressure cooking insulation surrounding the pot during suggests that open pot cooking requires 0.3 kWh per kg of cooked rice, while the normal pressure cooker decreased this to 0.18 kWh/kg and adding insulation saved a further 38% to reach a low value of 0.11 kWh per kg of cooked food, with actual cooking times reduced to 7-15 minutes followed by 10-15 minutes of steam absorption with no energy added. A often only transmits 50-70% of electrical energy into cooking energy that reaches the food4, with an estimate of 0.2-0.3 kWh needed per kg of cooked rice. Other tests find that this range of 0.1-0.2 kWh per kg of cooked food or boiled water5 is a consistent for energy efficient and less efficient cooking processes, with an electric kettle water similar to the lower end of this range, while grossly inefficient methods (including using more water than necessary to, say, boil pasta) can result in very inefficient cooking energy needs of up to 1kWh of electrical energy per kg of cooked food, which is as high as 2.5 kWh per kg if that electricity comes from a coal power station, as poorly efficient as cooking with an open fire. VIA’s initial tests with a solar powered 24V DC 250W 4L rice

1 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Specific-Fuel-Consumption-and-Cooking-Duration-for-Stoves_tbl2_285160063 2 https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/11/f19/Conv_Cooking_Products_TP_SNOPR.pdf 3 https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/32225979.pdf 4 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0260877405007612 5 https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/5825457/045_J%C3%B8rgen_Schj%C3%A6r-Jacobsen_final_paper-1.pdf

Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product 3 cooker from China is also consistent with these results from others, with 0.1-0.15 kWh per kg of cooked rice being attained within a cooking time of 20-30 minutes.

The fuel efficiency of an electric oven offers a comparison at the other end of the scale. A roasted dinner cooked for 1-1.5 hours in a 2-3kW oven with a 2-4 kg chicken that is around 60% meat, surrounded by 1-2 kg of vegetables, might yield 3-5 kg of cooked food by consuming 2-4 kWh of electricity, thus giving a result of 0.7-1 kWh per kg of cooked food. The burners of a BBQ are typically 5-20 kW maximum power rated, so if operated for 20-40 minutes to cook 2-5 kg of meat, this may use 1-2 kWh per kg of food cooked, whereas efficient cooking uses only 10% of this energy.

Therefore, surprisingly it is concluded that the energy consumed as well as the CO2 emissions of modern electric and gas cooking in rich Western countries is often no more efficient (~30%) than improved biomass cookstoves used in low income developing countries, and only show CO2 emission reductions if gas is the main original source of energy rather than coal. Efficient cooking should only require 0.1-0.2 kWh of electricity per kg of cooked food, while inefficient cooking methods via both heat-wasting appliances and using more water than needed can use 2-10 times more power.

Solar thermal cookers have been tried for many decades, but do not fit the daily routine of customers well, and do not allow indoor cooking nor task automation to help save time.

The project aims to therefore provide a new product to the market in the form of a solar powered electric cooker to address these energy needs. The scope of that product design is outlined in this document.

1.4 PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Cooking can be divided into a number of processes, and obviously one device cannot do all tasks.

1) , including barbecuing, , broiling, /spit-roast, , toasting

2) , including from a variety of heat sources such as flame, heating elements or rocks

3) Boiling, including , , , , , , , pressure cooking, , , steaming, , stewing, stone boiling, sous-vide, vacuum flask cooking, en papillote

4) , including , hot salt frying, hot sand frying, , , sautéing, , hot rock frying, rendering

5)

Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product 4 6) Microwave

7) Reheating

The focus of this scope of works is not on solar thermal cooking, but solar electric cooking. With battery storage, far more flexibility is possible with electric cooking, and there is also the possibility of automating the cooking task, freeing up time for other activities. Due to such disadvantages, even though solar thermal cooking has been available for decades, but is yet to make any significant impact in the cooking habits of low income households in developing countries, nor seems likely to in the future, even with prices lower than US$100. While solar photovoltaic (PV) power is cheap in the long-term, it has a high upfront cost and is only available in the daytime, so energy storage in a battery may be required to maximize the advantages of electric cooking, but battery storage increases the cost of electricity by 5-10 times.

This leads to the conclusion that a minimum of energy to cook is the most optimum first application of solar electric cooking, particularly if many hours of daytime solar energy can be used directly without storage. Thus, energy loss should be minimized, and preferably cooking would be done slowly over hours of low heat rather than quickly at high heat. Therefore, cooking processes such as barbecuing, grilling, broiling, rotisserie, microwave and all forms of frying are poor matches, as this generally involve very hot surfaces cooking for a relatively short amount of time at high heat. More suitable processes include simmering, stewing and steaming. These can be matched with the most typical foods cooked in various countries, to see what countries cuisines are a better match for solar electric cooking than others. Reheating might also be a good application due to the modest amount of energy required.

To reduce heat loss, insulating the cooking appliance is key, and very few kitchen appliances include insulation, which makes methods such as baking and roasting also less appealing, compared to thermal/vacuum flask cookers, rice cookers, insulated crockpots, pressure cookers and multicookers.

As noted above, two key features of a suitable cooking appliances is a low constant power demand rather than high power for a short time, and insulation to limit heat loss. High power cooking appliances of 1-2kW such as grills, oil and air fryers, hotplates, chapati makers, electric , bbqs, ovens, toasters, kettles, most induction stovetops and larger microwaves, pressure cookers and multicookers are not a good match. Lower power cooking appliances of 250-750W such as smaller microwaves, bread machines, ice-cream machines, travel ovens, steamer, sous-vide machine, and smaller multicookers, rice cookers, crockpot / slow-cookers, and pressure cookers. However, ovens and microwaves typically lack insulation, and are likely to be more energy inefficient than insulated pot style appliances such as rice cookers, some pressure cookers (many are not insulated) and multicookers (which is more or less an insulated pressure cooker, but with other cooking functions added that do not involve

Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product 5 pressure. Other appliances such as a bread machine and ice cream machine may have some limited potential as well, but not for cooking staple crops such as rice, maize, cassava vegetables and meat. It is everyday cooking that this project targets, so a solar powered bread or ice cream machine will not be furthered explored. Refrigeration and freezers will also not be included.

Vacuum flasks and thermal cookers are a partial cooking solution. Cooking does not take place in these, but takes place in normal pots. As soon as the food is up to temperature but not yet fully cooked, the pot is dropped into the highly insulated thermal cooker, or the food itself is put into a vacuum flask. Due to the high level of insulation, the food continues to cook with no additional external energy added, with only a very slow decrease in temperature. This method of cooking has been shown to be significantly more energy efficient than continuing to cook/simmer on the stovetop or fire, and examples for emerging markets like Wonderbag6 have been developed. This can both conserve fuel decrease the hours of stove use and thus its dangers, such as burns and fires. However, these appliances do not actually cook food - a separate cooking appliance is still required to provide the initial cooking energy, so these are not solutions by themselves, just a very good example of low energy insulated pot cooking that is highly noteworthy.

Market reviews indicate that a few DC cooking appliances already exist, mostly aimed at the recreational (camping, caravanning) or long-haul truck driver markets, and mostly operated at 12V though some higher power appliances run at 24V. These include kettles, food warmers, miniature ovens, grills, saucepan, frying pan, rice cooker, , blender, and single-pot induction hotplate. The target market is usually 1-2 people per device, rather than a typical developing country family of 5-8 people per household, so the capacities of 1-2 litres volume are too small to be practical - a volume of 4-8L is likely needed to cook 4-8 kg/day of food. However, some are of an appropriate volume, such as the 12V/24V solar rice cookers available from China that VIA has tested in previous years - this project aims to improve upon these DC rice cooker designs and offer a new, smarter product design.

1.5 PROJECT OUTCOMES

1.5.1 HARDWARE

The project is to provide the industrial, mechanical & electrical engineering and manufacturing design for a solar ‘rice cooker’ style appliance which within the one package (“the hardware”) for consumer use, including the mechanical and electrical design of all

6 https://www.wonderbagworld.com/

Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product 6 associated equipment where such equipment is not available “off shelf” (off shelf may refer to a DC heating element component etc but not complete products that suit the project brief).

The package shall provide a DC solar package suitable to operate the package by both direct solar PV power and via a lithium battery back up system.

The package shall consider the hardware necessary for PAYG (Pay-As-You-Go), whether this be RFID readers, keypads, IC card readers etc. For those unfamiliar with PAYG for offgrid solar appliances, please find a useful overview at https://energypedia.info/wiki/Fee-For- Service_or_Pay-As-You-Go_Concepts_for_Photovoltaic_Systems

The package shall consider the hardware necessary for a telemetry system for remote monitoring and/or control of the device via Wifi, GSM or LoRA communication protocols.

1.5.2 SOFTWARE

The project is to provide any software required for the operation of the hardware in section 1.5.1.

In addition, the project is to provide a “PAYG” (Pay-As-You-Go) platform to allow the operation of the hardware on either time based or energy based based payment method - the most appropriate to be determined by the Client based on design discussion with the engaged firm. Time based would be, for example, offering 30 days usage of the product per payment token, while energy based would be, for example, offering 30 kWh of energy consumption per payment token.

The software provided shall also allow for remote monitoring of the hardware platform via a LoRA or other long range wireless communication system.

The software provided shall provide an online cloud portal for PAYG code management and reporting on and performance-monitoring of a portfolio of PAYG-enabled cookers. Any Android phone app that may accompany such a package that allows agents to sell PAYG codes for cookers would also be of interest, but is not a compulsory component. An example of using such an app is at http://www.bopinc.org/updates/getting-rid-of-cash-digitizing-last- mile-distribution-of-payg-solar

Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product 7 1.6 PROJECT BUDGET

The project will be a fixed cost contract and the budget has no fixed minimum or maximum value, but should be reflective of the limited time period available to develop the product. The Bidder shall break their proposal down into the following costing table for the Client to assess competing bids like for like. The Bidder may include additional sub-line items but tasks 1-8 should be provided as cost totals of any sub-task items. The bidder shall include their own detailed Gannt chart with key milestones in their project proposal.

Project schedule is outlined in section 5.

Total Man Total Completion Task Description Days Cost Date 1 Technology Options Analysis 2 Technology Options Selection (inc. BOM cost estimates) 3 Conceptual designs for Client selection 4 Mechanical design of Alpha Hardware 5 Electrical/software design for Alpha Hardware 6 Prototype of complete Alpha Design 7 Prototype testing & results of Alpha Design 8 Preparation of Manufacturing Documentation

VIA will accept bids from bidders who have the expertise for delivering only part of the Scope of Works (eg. only the Hardware and not the software, or vice versa), but bids must clearly state which sections of the SOW the bidder can or cannot offer services for broken into three parts:

Mechanical Design

Electrical Design

Software Design

Bidders may not submit partial bids on the above three items (such as electrical design but without prototype samples). All 8 tasks listed above must be included for a full valid bid.

1 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product 2 SCOPE OF WORKS

The overall scope of works of the project is to provide a DC solar powered ‘rice cooker’ for emerging markets, primarily aimed at women usually with no access to AC power. This technology will help such customers move from using wood and charcoal fires, or kerosene / gas stoves to clean solar PV-electric powered cooking. Given the low income availability of the target market and lack of access to servicing locations, lowest cost & robust design with simplicity is preferred. The product is not to be designed with inherent redundancy - long life and durability should be foremost, as financing periods of 3-6 years will likely be required.

Target markets are more likely to be urban and peri-urban areas, both on-grid and off-grid, where households pay for cooking fuel regularly, but may also be attractive in more rural areas where cooking fuel is collected for free from the surrounding forest, as a time-saving and deforestation- technology.

In addition to the hardware aspect, electronics for operating and controlling the hardware is included in the Scope of Works and should be designed with simplicity where possible, noting that many customers will be illiterate. Durability with lowest cost available to achieve the expected long service life of at least 5 years. While the solar PV system is not included in the design, the controller required as part of the design should be able to allow either direct PV drive of the cookers’ heating element without a battery, as well as the option of using a battery for night-time or ‘rainy days’ service.

Further to the mechanical and electrical design, the SOW includes the requirement for remote monitoring of the system (both energy usage of the cooker and the energy input of the solar PV system) with some form of long range wireless/cellular communication (such as LoRA, GSM or other). The electronics should also provide the possibility to operate the mechanical/electrical hardware as a financial service ie. Pay-As-You-Go, similar to that as commonly found in the solar home system market. An overall conceptual layout of the product is shown below in Figure 3.

Figure 3 - Overall design concept

2 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product The table below outlines the expected performance requirements of the solar cooker:

Item Parameter Description Value Units

The volume of the a) Capacity 4-6 Liters available cooking area The average power b) Power consumption of 250-500 Watts cooker The operating voltage c) Voltage 12-24 VDC of the cooker

The winning bidder shall be provided with either protoype or similar products of the envisioned product to help establish baseline designs. Similar products to what the envisioned product might look like are shown below.

a) ‘crock-pot’ slow cooker b) rice cooker

2.1 MECHANICAL DESIGN

The technology review has shown clearly that the user interface is the most challenging feature of a multicooker or advanced rice cooker to get right. This is even more complicated when users are illiterate. Therefore, simplicity should be prioritized over product versatility, with dials rather than buttons, and colored lights with numbers preferred over written words in the user feedback panel. Overall the product will need to be quite robust, capable of being able to survive being dropped more than once. The pots being used now for cooking should be carefully studied (as much as can be practically done), noting that the foods under preparation such as cassava root and yam are quite bulky foods. Further documentation on Design Technology Review undertaken by VIA can be provided on request.

3 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product Figure 4 - Basic overview of rice cooker construction

2.1.1 HOUSING

The designer firm shall offer a design of a slow cooking device based off similar designs found in the rice-cooker market, consisting of an outer protective housing with a inner cooking pan, divided by an insulating layer (most likely of polyurethane, but other effective solutions may be proposed).

 The volume of the cooking chamber should be between 4-6L.

 The material of the cooking chamber should be food grade rated, assumed 304 stainless steel but the winning bidder shall propose their own materials.

 Insulation of the cooker shall be as such to assist to maintain the target energy consumption of <150 Wh per kg of cooked food.

 The outer housing should be of a non-corrosive material or coating, with the assumption that the product may be housed in wet/damp areas and in salty marine air in some cases.

 Adjustments on the user interface panel to the weight/volume/time/temperature/type of food or other should be mechanical and not digital and intuitive to an illiterate user.

 The top of the housing shall be removable as a lid and well insulated.

4 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product 2.1.2 HEATING

The design firm shall investigate different types of heating elements, such as copper coil type, magnetic, induction and others however it is assumed a simple thermoelectric heating element will be least cost option, as found in low DC rice cookers.

The following minimum requirements exist for the heating.

 The heating element shall operate from a 12=24V DC voltage and current source.

 The heating element shall operate from a direct solar PV DC current and not only a regulated DC voltage/current (ie. a battery), so that the product can operate without a battery if required, similar to a battery-free solar water pump, but can also operate from a battery when solar panel current is insufficient or unavailable.

 The heating element shall be sufficient to bring a full volume of water to boiling point (100degC).

 The energy consumption of the heating element shall not be greater than 500W.

2.2 ELECTRICAL DESIGN

The electrical design of the system shall consist of a heater controller, solar controller, PAYG system and telemetry system which all communicate with one another to form an overall electrical control system to maintain the system as a whole within the limits of the heating element & battery system’s safe operating limits, as well as limiting customer usage through a PAYG system, and allowing remote performance data collection of the system (and simple remote control) via the telemetry system.

2.2.1 HEATER CONTROLLER

The purpose of the heater controller is to

1) ensure the continuous operation of the heater within it’s rated temperature and power range to prevent damage to the heater element and the cooker as a whole,

2) to extend cooking times to deliver a target Wh of energy delivered to the food when solar energy input available is lower than maximum

3) allow automated turn-on via a clock-based timer or up to 24 hour delay timerf

4) allow different cooking algorithms to be used for the type of food being cooked (eg. high-low for rice cooking then steaming or cooking then simmering, or high-high for simple boiling of vegetables or pasta)

5 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product Heater Controller

Cooker Battery

 The heater controller shall have manually adjustable temperature settings of no less than 3 settings LOW:MEDIUM:HIGH with the power requirements at each setting not necessarily 1/3 power each (analysis of existing products should be undertaken).

 Cooking algorithms of the controller shall indicate at what level the food is being cooked at any given time, and should sufficient power be available, can be over-ridden by manual adjustment by the user.

 The heater controller shall have multiple LED indicators to provide user feedback as to the temperature of the inside of the cooking chamber.

 The heater controller shall have time based cooking control, whereby the user can set a start time for cooking and a maximum cooking time for the device.

 The heater controller shall have kWh based cooking control, whereby the user can set a maximum kWh to provide to the heating element before turning off.

 The heater controller shall be able to accept a 12-24V DC current either directly from a solar PV module, via a battery or from an AC power source (ideally directly, but if AC & DC current not possible then via AC to DC converter). The intent of this is for grid-connected customers to be able to use solar panel power directly as the first cheapest option, then battery energy if enough is available, and if both these options fail, then grid power can be used, without manual switching between sources being required by the user (though manual choice of the source should be possible for the user).

2.2.2 SOLAR CONTROLLER

The purpose of the solar controller is to convert the variable voltage solar DC current coming from the solar PV modules into a steady voltage suited to the battery voltage and to keep the batteries operating within their safe and optimal range. In addition, it shall operate the heater element without the requirement of batteries (unless the heater controller already provides this functionality).

6 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product  The solar charge controller shall be modular, so that the cooker product (including the heater controller) can be sold as a simple DC powered product without this particular controller, to those who already own solar home systems that have a controller. As such, it is expected that the solar controller used for this cooker product will be an “off the shelf” component rather than having customized design, minimizing design effort.

 The solar charge controller shall be MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracker) type charge algorithm.

 The solar charge controller shall be rated 1.3x the maximum design current required for either battery charging or direct heating element powering.

 The solar charge controller shall operate the battery(s) within their safe operating levels by both current, voltage and temperature.

 The solar charger should integrate shall allow operate normally regardless of the status of the PAYG system (eg. if the PAYG system registers the machine should not be accessible, the solar controller will still maintain power to the batteries).

 Shall be compatible with the remote telemetry to monitor energy production and consumption as well as remote control of the solar system and/or heating element controller.

 Shall have charge status indicators via LED or LCD screen, with a minimum requirement of showing charging, low charge, battery disconnected and load disconnected status.

7 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product 2.2.3 PAYG CONTROLLER

The PAYG (Pay-As-You-Go) controller shall control the operation of the solar cooker by either a kWh based consumable token or a time based consumable token to connect or disconnect the heater controller based on the user available credit of either consumable token. The PAYG controller is considered an optional component of the design proposal from the bidder, however where a PAYG controller is not included in the bidder SOW, then a 3rd party PAYG system provider shall be identified by the bidder to fulfill the PAYG requirement. The open source hardware and software from EnAcess Foundation partners are highly recommended to be reviewed for consideration: https://enaccess.org/projects

Consortium partnerships that combine expertise in both PAYG and non-PAYG aspects of this project are encouraged. Bids for only the PAYG component development are welcome, and if of interest, introductions can be made by VIA between potential consortium partners before final bids are submitted.

 The PAYG controller shall be modular, so that the unit may be sold as either a solar cooker product with/without solar charge controller (for when added to an existing solar home system) and likewise with/without PAYG controller (for when the product is sold for cash and no financing or slow repayment is required).

 The PAYG controller should utilise either RFID or IC card or keypad to input the digital reload token.

 The units of reload token shall be either kWh or time (default of 30 days usage).

8 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product  When the PAYG controller reaches a level of zero value remaining user credit, then the controller shall disconnect the heater element power but shall leave the solar charge (if applicable) available.

 The PAYG controller shall have a screen to indicate the current level of user credit remaining, either by a series of LEDs or a small LCD screen with single warning LED for low value remaining (<10% of the last topup).

 The PAYG controller will be capable of passing credits usage data to the telemetry systems and thus back to the system software, but if no PAYG controller is included, the solar controller and telemetry system would still convey energy usage.

 The PAYG controller shall keep a local store of the cumulative lifetime hours of use and kWh (if applicable).

2.2.4 TELEMETRY

The telemetry system shall allow the device to communicate remotely to a central web server the current and historical status of the product, monitoring critical operating system parameters.

 The telemetry controller shall use either WiFi, GSM or LoRA communication protocol and hardware. The possibility of using more than one method is a welcome optional extra.

 The telemetry system shall send status report in minimum data package type at programmable time intervals.

9 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product  The telemetry system shall monitor and send data reports (generally daily) with programmable time intervals on the following, including timestamps:

 Solar PV maximum and average power generation (watts) as well as energy generation (watt-hour)

 Heating element maximum and average power usage (watts) as well as energy usage (watt-hours)

 Battery state of charge (voltage & watt-hours capacity remaining)

 Heating element time spent operating at any power level (hours)

 PAYG controller credits used and remaining (kWh or days)

 The telemetry system shall enable the heater controller to be disabled remotely via the cloud software platform.

 The telemetry controller shall be modular and removeable, whereby the system can operate without the telemetry hardware installed (eg. when selling the cooker for cash).

 The telemetry controller shall have an external antenna option.

 The telemetry system shall come with recommended gateway hardware if required.

2.3 SOFTWARE DESIGN

The hardware shall be complimented with a cloud based software system and optionally a PAYG smartphone Android ‘app’. The Android ‘app’ is currently optional and preference given to bidders that provide in their scope - but creation of PAYG tokens from the cloud platform only will also be considered and bids offering this only will be considered valid.

The purpose of the cloud based platform shall be to display and tablulate the data that was collected and transmitted by the telemetry system outlined in 2.2.4. Should the telemetry system not be installed in the system hardware, then the cloud based platform shall display only data collected by the PAYG smartphone app.

The cloud based software is defined as the software only, as operated by a management team to manage the ongoing operation of the hardware package. VIA has access to an Amazon AWS server and a Microsoft Azure server that may be useful if required. In addition, the cloud platform shall serve the function to allow the management team to manage payment reconciliation from end users and vending agents - vending agents being intermediaries between VIA and end customers that sell credits tokens to end customers operating the PAYG

10 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product device. The relationship between the three components and end user outlined in this section is shown below for the PAYG platform:

In addition to this, where the hardware has been fitted with the telemetry system, then the software platform shall also collect data as outlined in section 2.2.4 directly to the cloud server.

2.3.1 MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Operations acceptable in either online and offline mode of the Android PAYG app:

a. Transfer of all Android app data to the cloud based software, including but not limited to:

i. All end user personal and payment transaction data;

ii. All agent personal and payment transaction data;

iii. All hardware status and location status;

b. Setting/resetting of PAYG app credit limit and credit availability, as well as in the case of time-based monthly codes which codes are active and can be downloaded by vending agents, and which cannot (token availibility control)

c. Registration of end users;

d. Activation of hardware and assignment to end users;

11 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product e. Unlocking of the PAYG device once full payment has been made

Minimum operations required in offline mode (that may also function online):

a. Creation of the prepaid digital token/token code for the end user;

b. Transfer of the prepaid digital token/token code to the hardware PAYG prepayment controller;

c. Viewing end-user contact information and hardware system status.

The software deployment of the full system (Android vending/PAYG app and cloud based software) should adhere to the following minimum general requirements:

Item Description

Compatibility the cloud based software platform should be compatible with a centrally managed PC running the compatibility Vending Management Software

Security the software for both cloud based platform and Android app should be password protected in the event of theft.

Credit Limits the Android app shall have limits to the value of the prepayment credit (hours/days or kWh) for the Android app user that are set by the cloud based platform. Credit limits shall only be reset once cloud based software has reconciled payments from the Android app user.

Payment The cloud based platform must have payment reconciliation features Reconciliation in which once the Android app user data is uploaded into the cloud based software, end user transactions can be easily summarized and when Android app user payment is inserted into the cloud based software, and a balance can be obtained to determine easily and quickly if the reconciled amount received matches that expected as collected.

Dashboard The cloud based software and Android app software should present information in a summarised way so that information can be captured ‘at a glance’ such as amount of moneys overdue , status of users/machines etc., and then be easily filtered by criteria such as date/users/status/locations and others. The dashboard shall also present telemetry data summaries, if available.

12 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product User The cloud based software must be able to control and edit all Management aspects of user management including assigning roles to users as well editing user details. The Android app must be only able to update end user information such as Name, Phone Number, Address etc and not manage roles.

Hardware The cloud based platform and Android app must be able to control Management and edit all aspects of hardware management including assigning location status, deployment status, serial number database and user assignment.

Defaulting The cloud based software should enable a dashboard view of total Users number of end users whom are 30/60/90+ days since last payment. Access to the users’ data contained within these views should be easily accessible and exportable including total paid, date of last payment, name and contact details including address/GPS co- ordinate.

Data Access Global data of both cloud based software and Android app software should be exportable to CSV or other file type importable to MS Excel - minimum data to be exported should be all MC data, all vending transaction data and all hardware asset data.

Software The Supplier must commit to providing ongoing support of the Updates software platform for the life of the Product, with fees and other arrangements to be negotiated with VIA separately to the cost of this product development project.

3 TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

The following section outlines the tasks and deliverables to be undertaken to deliver the project in a timely manner and in accordance with the Task Schedule.

TASK 1 - TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS ANALYSIS

The supplier shall be responsible for providing a list of technology options for the following minimum requirements to develop the hardware with recommendations for the final selected technology. i. Heater element options including voltage, power, type and cost estimate

13 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product ii. Heater element control options including voltage, current, type and cost estimate iii. Insulation options including R value, type and cost estimate iv. Telemetry types and hardware cost estimate v. Software platform types and ongoing cost estimate (monthly hosting fees etc)

TASK 2 - TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS SELECTION

The technology options selection task shall take the results of Task 1 in co-ordination with VIA to determine the final technology path to take for the product design. The final technology selection shall include an estimated BOM (bill of materials) for each technology and final assembled product options.

TASK 3 - CONCEPTUAL DESIGNS

The supplier shall provide VIA with conceptual industrial design of the product of no less than 3 overall industrial design directions to select from, as well as conceptual designs of the for the hardware.

The supplier shall provide VIA with conceptual wireframe design of the software and app including dashboard mockups for selection of design direction of the software.

TASK 4 - MECHANICAL DESIGN

The supplier shall provide complete mechanical design of the solar cooker hardware to accommodate all component items including the cooker, PCBs and other items, in a single packaged design.

The task shall require the creation of all initial 3D CAD and manufacturing drawings/files for the production of alpha prototype products.

TASK 5 - ELECTRICAL/SOFTWARE DESIGN

The supplier shall provide complete electrical design and software design of the solar cooker electronics system and software platform in a modular format whereby various components such as solar/PAYG/telemetry can be added or removed based on customer requirements.

The task shall require the creation of all PCB design and manufacturing drawings/files and firmware coding required for production of the alpha prototype products as well as the software platform to operate and manage them.

14 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product TASK 6 - PROTOTYPE ALPHA PRODUCTS

The supplier shall provide complete two working hardware prototypes of the mechanical and electrical components as outlined in this document, as well as the prototype software platform.

The prototype products shall be delivered to VIA by air freight for their own assessment.

TASK 7 - PROTOTYPE TESTING & RESULTS

The supplier shall provide VIA with complete testing results of the prototype design hardware and software, including key metrics as developed with VIA throughout the project. Particular focus shall be on the efficiency of cooking process to the energy input of the electrical system.

Minimum targets on the testing results shall be developed in conjunction with VIA as the progress progresses, but shall not be less than the minimum outlined in this document - however consideration will be undertaken where performance results are limited by mechanical/electrical or other constraints.

TASK 8 - PREPARATION OF MANUFACTURING DOCUMENTATION

The supplier shall undertake final preparation and handover of all documentation and hardware prototypes at the completion of the project to undertake small batch manufacturing by VIA’s manufacturers. The supplier shall commit to ongoing support during the production phase of the Alpha design products and undertake adjustment of engineering drawings for the purpose of manufacture through out the alpha production period. Design changes (rather than design modifications to allow manufacture to be carried out) shall be undertaken on a case by case between the supplier and VIA.

15 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product 4 PROJECT SCHEDULE

The following section outlines the project schedule that the supplier shall adhere to, to ensure the timely delivery of designs for manufacture to avoid delay of field trials of the final produced product.

4.1 CONTRACT AWARD

The following timetable exists for the Notice of Award and Contract signing.

I. The SOW will be advertised on the VIA website and identified potential bidding parties will be notified directly.

II. A virtual prebid meeting will be undertaken with any potential bidders at their request to make clarifications to the SOW if required.

III. Submission of bids shall be met by the specified deadline, or bids will not be considered.

IV. Following the deadline of all submissions to bid, VIA will undertake a 1 week bid evaluation period of all bids.

V. The successful bidder of the evaluation process will be provided with a Notification Of Award and unsuccessful bidders will also be notified of their unsuccessful bid (winning bidder will remain confidential)

VI. When the winning bidder as met all VIA administrative requirements within the time period available, then contract signing will take place. Notice of Award does not constitute a supplier contract.

Item Activity Date 1 Sending of Invitation to Bid 1st May 2020 Deadline for requesting any bid 2 15th May 2020 clarifications 3 Deadline for the Submission of Bids 24th May 2020 4 Bid Evaluation Duration 1 week Notification of Award to the successful 5 31st May 2020 bidder 6 Contract Signing 15th June 2020

VIA reserves the right to not award any tender award should the accepted bids not offer sufficient value for money, have impractical project management restrictions or cannot meet our schedule

16 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product 4.2 TASK SCHEDULE

The following task schedule is to be included in the contract awarded to the inning bidder. Should any delays in the bidding process take place, then the length of the delay shall be added to each task deliverable date.

2020 Task Description Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

1 Technology Options Analysis 2 Technology Options Selection (inc. BOM cost estimates) 3 Conceptual designs for Client selection 4 Mechanical design of Alpha Hardware 5 Electrical/software design for Alpha Hardware 6 Prototype of complete Alpha Design 7 Prototype testing & results of Alpha Design 8 Preparation of Manufacturing Documentation

Following this development project, VIA intends to manufacture 50 alpha products during December 2020 to April 2021 and field testing these in various markets during June - August 2021. A second development project would then start to refine this alpha product into a beta design, that will be part of a separate project scope, but is likely to offer the opportunity of ongoing development work during September 2021 - June 2022 to the winning bidder.

17 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product 5 PROJECT MANAGEMENT

5.1 VIA MANAGEMENT

VIA shall have a dedicated technical Engineering Project Manager available 4 days per month to assist and manage the winning bidder’s project schedule. The Project Manager will have technical experience in the product brief to assist in technical direction of the product development.

5.2 BIDDER MANAGEMENT

The winning bidder is expected to have one full time Project Manager assigned to the project who will be responsible for oversight of the project and communications with the VIA Project Manager.

In addition, the bidder must provide the CVs of the following key staff:

 Project Manager

 Lead Industrial Designer

 Lead Mechanical Engineer

 Lead Electrical Engineer

 Lead Software Engineer

18 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product 6 SUCCESS CRITERIA & SIGN OFF

The project will be deemed successful each task is signed off as completed by VIA and the following total project payments will be made as a percentage of the total bid value.

Task Description Payment Percentage

1 Technology Options Analysis 10% 2 Technology Options Selection 5% 3 Conceptual designs for Client selection 15% 4 Mechanical design of Alpha Hardware 25% 5 Electrical/software design for Alpha Hardware 25% 6 Prototype of complete Alpha Design 10% 7 Prototype testing & results of Alpha Design 5% 8 Preparation of Manufacturing Documentation 5%

19 Design Scope of Works for Solar Cooker Product