India inaugurates World’s largest Solar Steam System

Dr. Farooq Abdulla, the Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy inaugurated the World’s largest Solar Steam System at Sri Sai Baba Sansthan. This solar system will be used to cook food for the devotees visiting the sansthan. The total cost of the system is estimated at Indian Rs. 13.3 million (US$ 279,000). A subsidy of Rs. 5.84 million (US$ 122,500) has been provided by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. This solar system enables to cook food for 20,000 devotees who visit the place every day. This enables a huge savings of Rs 2 million (US$ 42,000) per year. This system was installed in a record time of just 10 months.

The advantages of steam cooking is that it is very clean and efficient and also a hygienic way of cooking, especially when you are cooking for a large number of people. The system generates steam of around 3500 kilograms which is sufficient for the 20,000 people who visit every day. The system has also been designed in such a way that it will generate steam for cooking even when there is no electricity. The main advantage of this kind of system is that India has a lot of sunshine during most part of the year. This solar radiation can be harnessed using automatic tracking solar concentrators. These kinds of systems help to save atleast 70%-80% of the fuel being used for cooking or other steam applications.
[PIB]