Solar Stuff

Today's handouts and books are all about solar cooking. From Florida Solar Energy Center there is a 3 pg handout called Recipes for Solar Cooking, publication number FSEC-FS-33.

Next is Solar Cooking Pack which describes its objectives as:
• To learn about the problems which come with cooking in the developing world and how solar power
can help.
• To learn about the basic principles of solar cooking.
• To build a solar cooker.

The Solar Cooking Project, best practices is a book (40p) about the solar movement in Darfur. The introduction states: "Information in this manual is based on the field experience of organizations and individuals supported by the Solar Cooker Project (SCP) of Jewish World Watch (JWW) in Darfur refugee camps in Eastern Chad. The goals of this
manual are to help NGOs initiate solar cooker projects in partnership with the SCP in Chad and inspire others to increase the use of solar cooking technology in sun-rich, fuel-starved regions around the world."

Solar cooking comes in may different flavors, from parabolic cookers pictured at the left, to solar ovens made from anything you can imagine. Mostly foil, cardboard and reflective glass. There are as many ideas as there are designs.

simple cardboard box cooker

elaborate wooden box cooker

drawing solar into the house

This last book is from Solar Cookers International and is called Solar Cookers, How to make, use and enjoy. Their introduction states: "What exactly is a solar cooker? It is a device that allows you to cook food using the sun’s energy as fuel. Is it really possible to cook with the sun? Yes, and this booklet will show you how. It will walk you through the process of building a simple solar cooker, using the cooker, and teaching simple solar cooking concepts to others."