For several decades various solar oven designs have typically been used in third world regions where electricity or other fuel sources are hard to find. Solar cookers have been used effectively in sunny African countries like Sudan to not only cook food, but also for water purification and pasteurization.
And like other solar technologies, there's no reason first world countries should not promote solar cooking at home to help save energy. Although cooking may take four times longer than conventional ovens, no electricity or fuel is used - just the power of the sun.
Over time many solar oven designs have been mastered, but they generally fall into three main categories: parabolic solar cookers, panel cookers, and box cookers.
Parabolic Shape:
As the name suggests, a parabolic cooker is made from reflective material that is molded into bowl. This helps it concentrate the sunlight in one area and effectively cook your food. However, this design typically costs more and it's rigid structure makes it less practical for traveling.
Panel Design:
This shape usually is in a bowl-like shape, and direct the sun's energy to one area. But it differs to a parabolic cooker in that it is put together with a number of reflective, flat panels and is less rounded.
The panel shape is not as efficient as the parabolic shape, but it has the advantage of being foldaway, portable, and rather simple to make. These cookers can be found in a number of interesting deigns, but the simplest is by far the one made by folding one of those reflective windscreen blinds.
Box Design:
Very different to the other two designs, the box cooker works by trapping the sun's heat, instead of simply focusing it on a central point. It is designed in such a way that it let's light in, but stops that heat from escaping. As more sunlight comes in, the hotter it gets.
This results in the entire area of the box to get hot and be able to cook larger portions of food at a time. This design is by far the simplest to put together - all you need is a black cardboard box with one side covered in tin foil and a sheet of clear perspex or glass on top to hold in the heat.
What's great about most solar oven designs is that they can be built from everyday materials in a few short hours. Like a conventional oven or stove, they can be used to prepare anything - such as roasted meat, steamed vegetables, rice, fried eggs, and baked bread. And since a solar cooker is used outside, it will not heat up the kitchen and place stress on your cooling system.
To think that - according to the Residential Energy Consumption Survey - almost 75% of Americans prepare at least one hot meal at home per day, 33% prepare two or more, a large amount of electricity can be saved if more of us try solar oven design at home.
There really is no excuse for not looking more into solar cooking. With a number of affordable solar cookers and free instructions available on the internet, you owe it to yourself, your kids and the environment to try one out for yourself.
And like other solar technologies, there's no reason first world countries should not promote solar cooking at home to help save energy. Although cooking may take four times longer than conventional ovens, no electricity or fuel is used - just the power of the sun.
Over time many solar oven designs have been mastered, but they generally fall into three main categories: parabolic solar cookers, panel cookers, and box cookers.
Parabolic Shape:
As the name suggests, a parabolic cooker is made from reflective material that is molded into bowl. This helps it concentrate the sunlight in one area and effectively cook your food. However, this design typically costs more and it's rigid structure makes it less practical for traveling.
Panel Design:
This shape usually is in a bowl-like shape, and direct the sun's energy to one area. But it differs to a parabolic cooker in that it is put together with a number of reflective, flat panels and is less rounded.
The panel shape is not as efficient as the parabolic shape, but it has the advantage of being foldaway, portable, and rather simple to make. These cookers can be found in a number of interesting deigns, but the simplest is by far the one made by folding one of those reflective windscreen blinds.
Box Design:
Very different to the other two designs, the box cooker works by trapping the sun's heat, instead of simply focusing it on a central point. It is designed in such a way that it let's light in, but stops that heat from escaping. As more sunlight comes in, the hotter it gets.
This results in the entire area of the box to get hot and be able to cook larger portions of food at a time. This design is by far the simplest to put together - all you need is a black cardboard box with one side covered in tin foil and a sheet of clear perspex or glass on top to hold in the heat.
What's great about most solar oven designs is that they can be built from everyday materials in a few short hours. Like a conventional oven or stove, they can be used to prepare anything - such as roasted meat, steamed vegetables, rice, fried eggs, and baked bread. And since a solar cooker is used outside, it will not heat up the kitchen and place stress on your cooling system.
To think that - according to the Residential Energy Consumption Survey - almost 75% of Americans prepare at least one hot meal at home per day, 33% prepare two or more, a large amount of electricity can be saved if more of us try solar oven design at home.
There really is no excuse for not looking more into solar cooking. With a number of affordable solar cookers and free instructions available on the internet, you owe it to yourself, your kids and the environment to try one out for yourself.
About the Author:
Other than solar oven designs, have you ever wondered how to make your own home solar power for under $200 and start reducing your power bill? If so, then get our free Earth4Energy Report - an insider's look at the #1 rated step-by-step renewable energy instructions on the internet.
No comments:
Post a Comment