The CrowHouse Forums

There is a wide variety of solar cooker designs, many of them very simple to build from inexpensive, easy-to-obtain materials. Some can be built in as little as an hour for less than US$5 using cardboard, aluminium foil and glue eg. CooKit. The most efficient is the Parabolic cookers because it cooks as fast as a conventional electric burner & can fry foods.

More info and comparisons of Solar Cookers here:
http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Solar_cooker_plans


Box Cooker
A box cooker is an insulated box with a glass or plastic lid. The box can be wood; cardboard, even plastic, as long it can withstand temperatures of up to 150°C (300°F). If you’ve more than one pot – get a bigger box! The very simple design and ease of manufacture means these are the most widespread type of solar cooker.



Panel-style cooker -CooKit
Panel cookers are a hybrid of box and parabolic cookers. As with a parabolic cooker, it has reflective panels which are folded into a bowl shape to capture the sun’s rays. The cooking pot is put into a clear plastic bag to keep heat in, and this is then placed in the cooker, in direct sunlight. You don’t need to turn the cooker, as it doesn’t need the sun’s rays to be directly focused on to the pot.



Parabolic Cooker
Parabolic (or concentrator) cookers are shaped like an umbrella. You place the cooking pot inside the ‘umbrella’ then focus the heat on to the pot by moving it back and forth until the sun’s rays are focused directly on it (think of focusing the sun’s rays with a magnifying glass). They can reach very high temperatures, and cook food quickly. But the parabolic shape makes them harder to manufacture, and they need to be turned to track the sun’s passage through the sky.



Start by choosing a cooker design type based on your requirements.
http://solarcooking.org/plans/

CooKit in Africa


Parabolic Cooker

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Thanks Dreamingod, some really good info their.

really appreciate the solar cooker links...