Abstracts Oral Presentations - Solar Food Processing Network

International Solar Food Processing Conference 2009
Learning to develop and transfer Solar Food Processing
Technologies at Barli Development Institute for Rural women in
India
Abstract
James R. McGilligan
To be presented in
International Solar Food Processing Conference 2009
Date: 14– 16 January 2009
Last ten years of developing and transferring solar food processing technologies at
Barli Development Institute For Rural women, has been a unique learning
experience specially having no professional degree, no research and development
funding, no technical infrastructure, no academic or technical students . In 1998 Barli
Institute initiated development and transfer of solar technology as a support to its
ongoing programmes of empowerment of rural and tribal women as a step towards
sustainable development. This led to all the learning and acquisition of solar
engineering skills, information and hands on experience of manufacturing from
Wolfgang Scheffler and Heike Hoedt , Deepak and Shirin Gadhia ,Deiter and Imma
Siefert,and Pro Sawhney.It involved taking training, researching, manufacturing,
using ,testing, making mistakes and take corrective measures, improving
developing, documenting , disseminating information and then imparting this training
to locals as well as overseas volunteers .It also involved interacting with
academicians and experienced technical experts persons about various ,technical,
structural and social aspects related to functioning of these devices. As a result
Barli Institute could manufacture and install as well as transfer 14 Scheffler dishes
of 10 meters and designed made 5 large solar kitchens ,more than 300 SK 14 in
villages and used and tested the only working model of a solar- storage cooker the
only working model worldwide. It also manufactured 2.7 meters Scheffler dishes of
different type, solar oven, tunnel dryers, and distiller and trained local and
international human resources. Institute developed training and information manuals.
This resulted Institute becoming a learning centre for civil society, government and
NGO and educational Institutions, business and industry, political leadership. To
share this learning experience, researching, developing solar gadgets and devices
is very important but equally important to reach the users, training them and helping
them after giving them technology are inseparable parts of technology transfer. All
the solar related agencies and Institutions should work together.
Keywords: .Learning, Manufacturing, Developing solar food processing technologies,
Barli women, training, Scheffler, SK-14, users, dissemination
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