Solar Cookers

People use solar cookers primarily to cook food and pasteurize water, although additional uses are continually being developed. With an understanding of basic principles of solar energy and access to simple materials such as cardboard, aluminum foil, glass or plastic, one can build an effective solar cooking device

Basic Ideas An effective solar cooker: –Lets in sunlight through openings and/or actively collects sunlight by using reflectors –Has materials inside that absorb heat, such as dark inner walls or dark containers –Keeps the heat from escaping by not having air leaks –Keeps heat from escaping by having barriers such as glass or plastic

Box style cookers Simple box style cookers involve a cardboard box, lined with foil or black paper or paint Sometimes two boxes are used, one inside the other There is usually a transparent lid covered with plastic Sometimes they have a reflector of cardboard covered with foil, angled to reflect light into the box

Box Cooker Diagram This shows a very fancy box cooker with a separate removable lid and insulated walls

Funnel Cooker Here is a variation on a box cooker that involves a box supporting a cardboard funnel covered with foil to reflect light to the cooking container. The container is black, and inside a plastic bag to hold in heat

Another variation in box cooker Here, a box has been modified in another way so that reflective surfaces direct light to the cooking pot

Another reflector style cooker

Parabolic Cooker An umbrella, covered on the inside with foil was used to make this cooker

Windshield Shade Cooker Back view

How-to videos