Yearly report 2001
Our year 2001
From Sonja Draxler
Dear Friends of EG Solar e.V.,
The year 2001 ended with a feeling of sadness, horror, and empathy with the victims of the terrorist attacks which brought unending pain and suffering to so many people.
Much more the reason that we should be pleased with the developments which bring peace and progress, and improve the quality of life for those in need. We also want to make a note of the small successes we have achieved through the continual support of friends and supporters after so many years. Therefore, our thanks go out to those who have not only supported our work financially, but also make our work possible through their interest and high level of personal involvement.
Hans Michlbauer, 1st Chairman
Through our annual statements, you should already be quite familiar with our many partner countries. We can’t go into depth with every one, but we would like to describe a few in closer detail.
You can donate for specific projects when you write the project (in bold face type) in the memo line (Verwendungszweck) of your bank transaction slip (Überweisung). Many Thanks!
Afghanistan – In the Pakastani border town of Peshawar, a so-called lawless region, we have had a ‘garage’ workshop building our Solar Cookers since 1994. The Solar Cooker is currently being used by large families in refugee camps in Peshawar (see photo) and also in the Chak-E.Wardak-Hospital in Afghanistan. The requests for cookers is very large and we would like to emphasize the meaningfulness of this project. The events since September 11 and the following whirlwind of war have certainly affected you personally as well.
Burkino Faso - is one of the poorest nations on the planet and lies in the Sahel. Our cookers have been built in the capital Ouagadougou for many years. The second workshop that is planned for Nouna is in urgent need of completion-stage financing.
Gahan – There have been changes to the original plans of building Solar Cookers in the town of use, and therefore, no tools or reflector panels have been sent. Kingsley Addy, the instigator of the project, has brought 100 K-Solar Cookers (made in Germany) to Accra. Before an investment in the machines and equipment was made, he wanted to first test the acceptance of the cookers in the region. The new government has a positive disposition to the use of renewable energies and there are currently contacts with influential members there. The project planning is being conducted by 2 women and 2 men who are directing the marketing and acceptance levels. Currently, only the ‘ready-made’ types of cookers are being supplied and therefore problems with border control and customs should not be a problem.
Haiti – A bitterly poor but very sunny country! Our members Jean-Louis Romane and Edmund Welcker are involved here with developing the 1st Solar Cooker workshop. A school in Jacmel is supplying them with a worshop. At the school, an educational workshop will be developed where the students will be taught the basics of Solar Cooker metal work and constructions. The duo has already had success fundraising to outfit the workshop. “As soon as we have the funding for the first building materials, we’re ready to begin. Our partners are impatiently waiting.” Said Jean-Louis, who would like to take a break from his work in Germany for a few months to return to his homeland and get the project moving.
Mauritia – The largest portion of this country in Northwest Africa is covered by the sand and rolling dunes of the Sahara. There are almost no more trees left, for they have not been able to withstand the many rainless years, and the rest of their remains have been collected for firewood by nomads. We are pleased to announce that in the fall of 2001, we sent workshop materials and reflector panels for 50 cookers to UNICEF in the capital of Nouakchott. 50 Solar Cookers are of course only a beginning, the well-known drop of water on a truly hot stone.
Namibia – The new Solar Cooker workshop at the high school in Döbra was deserted after the transfer of the workshop director and after a constantly changing personnel, so a smooth transition to a student run workshop for the building of Solar Cookers had to be cancelled. Because of this, the school administration asked for assistance from the Senior Expert Service in Bonn, who contracted EG-Solar member Karl Wittmann to act on behalf of the SES at the high school for two months. He developed a base personnel (currently 5 resident) who were able to act independently and follow the plans for building and finishing the Solar Cookers.
Nepal – Our long time friend Karl Kölle with the Vajra Foundation Nepal/Holland initiated a Solar Cooker workshop in an area for refugees from Bhutan (Bhutanese Refugee Camp Beldangi-I Jhapa). We would like to extend a great thanks for donations in March 2001 which allowed for the purchase of reflector panels for cookers and got this aid program moving. The latest report informed us that around 3,000 people are participating in the solar cooking and that many more are on a so-called waiting list. A preference is given to families with more than 4 members, who are then supplied with a Solar Cooker, 3 black pots, and one basket with blankets to keep the food warm.
Zanzibar – At long last, success! For the past 18 months, Bayernwerk (today E.ON) donations which were gathered through the campaign, “Future Penny” could be used in November to ship Solar Cookers and tools to Zanzibar. The long awaited permission to build a workshop was finally approved by the commission of Natural Resources.
Zimbabwe – In 2001, income was again established from the projects commissioned by the Archdiocese of Bulawayo (in which 35 Parishes contribute) to support the AIDS-Orphanage. Around 20 DK14 cookers per month have been produced and sold. In the case that a lower import customs is approved, there could soon be a larger number of K10 and K14 cookers imported. Negotiations with the customs office in Zimbabwe are underway, as well as discussions about financing Solar Cooker projects through potential donations from the National Agency for Development Aid in Berlin. An order of a further 200 sets of reflector panels in November 2001 secures the further production at the workshop in Bulawayo.
South Africa – The GTZ are extending their pilot project study until March 2002 with a second phase of their program. This year we’ve finished an extra 95 iZola Cookers, especially designed for South Africa and are contracted to finish another 50. The first phase of the program, the acceptance test, produce noticeable results. 66 families in 14 institutions (schools and kindergartens), people cooked with the sun in 3 differently structured communities and a high level of social acceptance for solar cooking was determined from the test users. That means that 40% of all meals cooked during the year in these families were prepared by solar cooking!
Uganda – After a year-long break, 9 youths and 2 leaders from the Department of Sport at the community college of Altötting again worked with street children in Nsumba. The following activities were undertook: The visiting and check up of Solar Cooker workshops, the instillation of photovoltaic solar systems, the beginning of solar lamp production with help from Freilassing, group education for sport leaders, and especially important, the establishment and organization of a continually staffed First Aid Station for the current 300 children in the camp. This collective project between the German Youth Sport Organization, the Bavarian Youth Sport Organization, the DJK Regensburg, EG Solar is in its 12th year and is greatly supported by the ‘Event Star-Hour’ and the Franz Beckenbauer charity.
Large numbers of reflector panels for the SK14 Solar Cooker have again been sent worldwide this year. We’ve distributed them to workshops in Nicaragua and Brazil, Madagascar and India, Mexico and Argentina, Burkina Faso, etc.
There has also been large orders for the K-Cookers and we’ve sent this new style of cooker to Uganda, Zansibar, Peru, Ghana, through the German Consulate in Ankara, Turkey, to Zimbabwe, Costa Rica, Kenya, etc.
Our products have also gone to Korea, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Togo, Chile, Japan, Senegal, to the Kapverdisch Islands, in the USA and just about every EU country. Cooking with the sun continues to win more and more friends!!
A large portion of our activities were financed by donations and we would sincerely like to extend our heart-felt thanks. People donated to our Solar Cooker projects instead of receiving birthday presents, schools gathered bottle deposits or sold buttered-herb bread (with herbs from the school garden) during their free time, the usual costs for companies’ Christmas bonuses became donations, sports activities were sponsored and all for the benefit of the Solar Cooker. There are no limits to the treasure chest of ideas.
Public Awareness Articles in journals and newspapers, and our presence at conventions (The Intersolar in Freiburg, SolarEnergy in Berlin, Solar Parade in Munich, the Munich Builder’s Convention, and many smaller exhibitions and opportunities) again proved to be very beneficial.
A thank you and recognition go to Dr. Dieter Seifert, the inventor of our parabolic Solar Cooker. For his engagement in the Solar Cooker projects, he has received the National Cross for Service award.
Our Solar Refrigeration system is currently established in 8 countries. Our latest systems have been sent to a hospital in Tanzania, a sanitation station in Yemen and to Angola.
In Moshi, Tanzania, the aid organization ‘Christoffel Blindenmission’ has successfully tested our refrigeration box in the second largest hospital in the country. The final report has recently been completed and is available to order on CD for €10,00.
The research and development division for Energy Commerce in Munich compared
our refrigeration system with a normal refrigeration device using photovoltaic
solar cells. The comparison was done under the direction of the Bavarian
Ministry for Commerce, Transportation, and Technology. The results proved that
our refrigeration system is certainly worthwhile when one looks at the
comparison of energy use, costs, environmental aspects, handling, and
maintenance. The study completed by the Research and Development division can be
downloaded from the internet at
Due to the positive results and the large number of requests we have received, we’ve decided to develop a stationary/mobile refrigeration system for foods, which will be based upon our serial-production refrigeration system for medications and vaccines. In September of this year, we received further funding from the Bavarian Ministry for Commerce to extend our project over the next two years. However, the amount we applied for, DM 1,4 Million (700,000 €) was reduced to DM 550,000 (225,000 €). We ask for your financial support so that this project can be successfully implemented. Pleas mark your donations under the word ‘Solares Kühlen’ or ‘Solar Refrigeration.’
We’ve got new items in our product catalogue. The K-Cooker (made in Germany) has already been mentioned in this annual statement. There is the K10 (with a one meter diameter) and the K14 (with a 1.4 meter diameter) and both were developed for quick implementation in crisis areas. The pieces of the K-Cooker are made of pre-cut zincked steel panels, you simply follow the simple and colored directions, file and assemble. The all-inclusive package includes all pieces, bolts, reflector panels, directions for assembly, tools, and a cookbook in five languages. The Solar Cooker can be sent in very large numbers in a very short period of time, particularly important is the price listing for bulk-purchases.
We also have a new, alternative reflector panel material called SUNBRIGHT in our assortment. The polished aluminium panels are covered with a protective coating and have been successfully tested under harsh conditions (extremely salty air, strong chemically polluted air, etc.) The successful test results validate the somewhat higher costs for this reflective coating.
We’ve integrated the Solarlamp SOLAR 2000 products from the Solar Project Group in Freillassing to our product line. Furthermore, the introductory concept from Freilassing is so convincing, that we’ve copied it. The lamps are to be completed by workshops for independent living in the place of use. The concept relies on the creation of a battery charging station (Solar 2001) and can charge up to 10 lamps at a time. This offers the possibility to create a borrowing system for the lamps, which allows those who use the lamps to continually have them charged for a small fee. All of this stays within the community of use.
The mechanisms for the reduction of CO² agreed upon in Kyoto, were moved forward in Bonn and Marrakech, but unfortunately have not yet been practically developed or enforced. A good reason for us to continue our successful CO²-reduction donation drive. When you donate for this cause under the name ‘CO² Donation’, you receive not only a tax-deductible receipt, but also our EG-Solar CO² certificate. Please note, a 2,50€ investment in a Solar Cooker reduces 1 ton of CO². Through your donations to date, around 4000 ton/year have been reduced. One German citizen produces around 12 tons/year.
Another note of news is that we were recently informed that we have received
one of the Ford Motor Conservation and Environmental Grants this year. Read more
about it here 
