Mobile Solar Power Testbed gets an 1100 Watt Electric Cooking Element

 I received a hotplate yesterday, which isn't, perhaps, the perfect match with my KickStarter purchase of a $100 pair of compact cooking utensils (in the foreground, a frying pan which doubles as a saucepan lid, in the background, a saucepan which doubles as a frying pan lid), but it was $12, has no electronics, and could double, in the future, as an 1100 watt load resistor, a heater, or other things, and for now, can make breakfast!

The noodles are from 1/2 a pack of ramen, seasoned with dashi, pre-soaked in a little (too much, I wasted power cooking them down) on top of garlic and artificial crab.

Lunch was Trader Joe's pre-cooked roast beef slices, fried with mushroom, garlic, and onion, in a hot-dog bun (well, two hot-dog buns, they were small), toasted on the bottom of the (non-stick) frying pan. Power used, for that, and to make 2 liters of green tea: 810 Watt-hours (probably it would have been nearer 800 if I had dumped the excess ramen water), not counting conversion losses in the 24V to 120V inverter. That compares favorably with cooking in a 700 Watt microwave, which, in my experience, cannot produce as palatable a result. I estimate that amount of power requires about 300 watts of solar panels on a reasonably (not perfect) sunny day around here (SF Bay Area). I had twice that much out today (rain is coming).