Low-Cost Converter Design to Interface Solar to Inductive Cooking in Rural Areas

To improve the quality of life in remote rural areas, electrification is of importance. Electrification using solar panels, for lighting and charging mobile phones, is already taking place. Especially air pollution during cooking on wood-powered stoves, can and should be replaced by cooking on solar power. Solar power is harvested per household and can be shared via a DC micro-grid. Electric cooking is the subject in this paper, and a converter is proposed to connect a low-cost commercially available induction cooker to a DC micro-grid containing multiple typical solar/battery installations. The DC micro-grid voltage cannot be directly used for the induction cooker, as it is higher than the required maximum of AC 250 volt RMS. A 1kW Buck converter is designed, capable of converting the DC micro-grid voltage of 300-400 volt, down to 230 volt DC, being the nominal voltage level for a commercially available induction cooker.