What is the perfect solar cooker? How should it function and perform? And most importantly should it be cost effective and comparable to the more conventional cooking methods thus offering an alternative to our current reliance of fuel sources?
Solar ovens aka solar cookers fall into 3 distinct categories; the box solar cooker design, trough design and the parabolic cooker design. Each design offers its own features, benefits and drawbacks: -
For more information on the different types of solar oven, please visit types of Solar Cooker
Taking these factors into account, one must balance up the pros and cons of what the needs are for the end user. The predominant market for solar cookers includes developing countries, Tibet (lack of fire wood), China and India.
The Western world is now starting to harness solar cooking with the advent of peak oil prices starting to affect us all.
The most popular solar ovens currently on the market include: -
Global Sun Oven
Review
Used in over 126 countries around the world, and reported to be the most popular solar oven on the market.
The oven costs approx $249 (USA), however if you live outside the USA, then shipping charges to the UK for instance costs an extra $302. Total amount payable $551.
The box design means the oven doesn’t require frequent adjustments to point to the sun as frequently as the other designs require.
Cooking temperatures reached 360-400 degrees Fahrenheit. However the temperature quickly drops when food is placed in the chamber as the hot air escapes, reaching optimal cooking temperatures can take several hours.
For more information visit www.sunoven.com
Post a review for the SunOven.
Spotlight and Sangli solar cooker
Review
Produced in China these solar cookers adopt the parabolic cooker design. They have a 2 square metre reflective surface which approximately equates to 1000 Watts. 5kg of water can be boiled in 20 minutes.
The Sangli solar cooker is a similar design to the Spotlight solar cooker which reportedly sells 80,000 units a year, predominantly to China and India.
The cost of the Sangli Solar cooker is $105 plus postage. Once again the postage costs outweigh the cost of the cooker as the weight of the oven is approx 50kg. A minimum order of 10 units is also required.
Source: www.solarcooking.org
High cooking temperatures are reached – 800 degrees Fahrenheit and a tracking device can also be purchased to automatically track the sun.
Overall a great solar cooker, however it’s bulky size and weight limit the global potential this oven can reach.
For more information visit www.chinasangli.com and www.sz-wholesale.com
Post a review for the Spotlight and Sangli solar ovens.
HotPot Solar Cooker
Review
My favourite due to its durable, lightweight, and easy-to-use design, it is also a cost effective solar cooker at only $99.95. The Solar Household Energy company is a not-for profit corporation.
The only downside to the HotPot is that food takes a long time to cook due to the open panel style box design, similar to the SunOven once the food has been accessed it then takes a long time to reach optimal cooking temperatures due to the greenhouse (hot air) bag method adopted.
The HotPot is available with two types of reflector; one made of aluminium foil bonded to heavy cardboard, and the other – the Morning Star is made of anodized aluminium. These offerings maximise global sales and cater for the people who need this technology the most – the Third World and also caters to the happy campers – Western World.
Temperatures inside the HotPot solar cooker can reach 250 degrees Fahrenheit. This type of cooker is used in NGOs and disaster relief situations.
For more information visit www.she-inc.org and www.SolarCookers.org
Post a review for the HotPot solar cooker.
PLEASE NOTE: -
Over 14 million young children die each year and the life expectancy in many countries is less than 50 years. This is due to poor health care, lack of clean water, respiratory and eye ailments due to enclosed smoky cooking conditions. Malnutrition is another key factor. Lack of food due to a shortage of fuel, and the practice of single pot cooking (separate weaning foods cannot be prepared).Many families are forced to spend more on cooking fuel than they are able to spend on food.
All of these factors result in the needless death of many millions of lives. Solar cooking can help reduce this unnecessary waste of human life. Third world governments are unable to assist their poor citizens because of the high interest rates attached to their foreign debts accumulated in the past decade.
Gloomy as the above situation may seem, there is hope for the poor of the world. There must be hope, or else humanity will perish.
Please feel free to write your own review on these or indeed any other solar cooker. I will include all reviews.
Peace, light and love
SolReka
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April 21st, 2008 at 9:06 am
Great post, Solar cookers well worth looking into.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Thankyou Mark
Solar cookers certainly are an understated alternative energy source. Especially for the many millions who cannot afford to use conventional fuels.
May 26th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Sorry Rob,….I find that the Global Solar Oven retains the heat quite nicely. I have two of them and they heat up within 20 minutes or so. For even better heat retention I placed a ceramic tile on the gimbaled tray to act as a heat sink. Plus…I usually don’t wait around for the solar oven to heat up. I just pop the food in. Unless of course it is bread.
You are correct about the price in the USA, but generally one can find a much better price. I have seen new ones going for $169 to $229 on eBay. Shpping to Europe would be a killer though. Maybe you can contact the company. They have a program set up for manufacturing the unit.
I am locatd in the Pacific NorthWest in America. I am guessing the weather is similar to where you are from……..vern
June 14th, 2008 at 10:31 am
We’re proud to be working with Sun Ovens International in Europe as their licensed distributor . Getting individual ovens across is costly ..I did it initially . We deliver from our base in Valencia all over Europe ..so far Spain Mainland , Balearics , Malta , France , Portugal , Canary Islands , Sicily and even the UK …which considering the climate is a great market . We’ve been live since May and the response in great ..and we’ve got some other products inthe pipeline over the coming months ..
June 17th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
So…Bryan, why can’t you purchase the equipment to make the GSOs? Sun Oven did offer that option previously. Maybe it was only for certain regions? Or maybe too costly to set up? Good luck and Good Solar Cooking. We have a few European members on our SolarCooking group on Yahoo. It is a fun…Vern in Oregon in United States
June 17th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
..Straight to the point Vern . It’s in the pipeline as the logical next step – we have the space set aside and have the agreement with SOI to do so as soon as we’re ready ..
June 17th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
I am so looking forward to releasing my solar oven, just waiting for some components, then it’s lock and load.
Great to see the push for solar cooking from all corners of the Globe
Cheers guys
June 17th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
That is good news Bryan….and congratulations! The GSO is a great oven. If you ever want to tap into our resources on SolarCooking on Yahoo please feel free. I suspect you might start your on solar cooking group. It is a great resource for new solar cooks and for experienced ones.We have over 560 members; are a congenial group; Rob is a member; a bunch of us are Global Sun Oven owners and cooks. Frankly – we know a lot and are open for learning more. I can send you an invite if you wish. You can also let your customers know about us. Again – Congratulations! Vern
June 18th, 2008 at 6:15 am
Vern – please send me and invite and I’d gladly put it up for customers too ..
Agree with all your comments on the GSO …I’ve also got (for personal use ) a little solar tracker which I sit it on and it tracks away – which works wonders for maintaining optimum heat ..
I thought about commercialising it but it takes away from the simplicity which is attractive to many people .
June 18th, 2008 at 6:16 am
Rob – when you’re locked and loaded and if you’re ever looking for another route to market ..let’s talk .
June 28th, 2008 at 6:00 am
We’re down in Granada this weekend – starting yesterday with a spanish ecological organisation – and a whole collection of solar cookers . It’s good to see the Sun Oven is still by far the favorite because of ease to use and consistent performance . Parabolics are impressive …but portability – mmm . the little cookit is always in favor but price plays a big part …it comes with a requirement for lots and lots of patience . La Trompeta in absent still but I have some plans for August when I finished some tests .
How about August 2 – which someone has declared ‘ Northern Hemisphere Solar Cooking day . I don’t like manufactured days …’International Take Your Hamster To Work Day’ and all that ….but if it helps publicity …and with a little work …that’s good ..
Had the first day of double digit sales on Wednesday , then more Thursday ..and yesterday 2 more to a summer school who had tried various cheaper options but wanted one the teacher had usedinthe US and knew worked …
A good week .!
BJ
June 28th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Hi Bryan
Portability of parabolic ovens is certainly an issue, however the SolReka solar oven overcomes the issue of trying to carry around a huge dish on your back and looking like something out of Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles.
I would like to discuss matters further with you once my oven is ready for sale (link up our sites and promote solar cooking in Europe).
I very much like the idea of a Northern Hemisphere day, I conducted a solar club here in the UK only last year, the kids loved it.
I am about to post an article showing how easy it is to build a Cone Solar Oven
Regards
Sol
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August 9th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
mr admin i love your blog its so informative really just stumbled across your blog and i am glad to see your blog its given loads of information for my brothers projects in his scool and he is glad that you given so many tips thank you
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February 23rd, 2009 at 5:08 pm
I love parabolic solar cookers, they can generate quite a lot of heat
February 23rd, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Hi Marietta
Parabolic solar cookers certainly are great fun to build and use. They are the most efficient of all solar cooker designs.
Plato in his day used the parabolic design to create his very own Solar Death Ray which was used to blow ships up.
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February 25th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
This really works?? This would be great for my surf trips.
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October 1st, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Dude, theres no way that the sun can heat one of these pots enough to boil water straight up. It can maybe get to 250 or 300 degrees but in no way will it ever have enough heat the boil water. It would have to be at least 500 degrees or something like that to make it boil.
Secondly, although the sun is quite hot bro, it is also over 10,000 miles away, making the incumbent radiation close to nothing due to its angle of incidence.
And lastly, these will have no chance of ever selling becuase there is no need for solar power cookers/ovens when we have microwaves, ovens, and toasters in our kitchens already. And in addition, there is no possible way to focus all the light and energy at one single part bro.
Take these facts into consideration when considering designs that are so called ECO-friendly.
October 2nd, 2009 at 12:29 am
Hi David
Thank you for your input. With the exception of the hot pot, all the solar cookers you see in post do actually boil water. The radiant heat which is focussed on the pots for the various designs is plenty sufficient to boil water, dependent on how efficient cooker/s are with converting solar energy. Only one square metre of solar radiation hitting the Earth produces one kilowatt of energy. Once again it boils (excuse the pun) down to efficiency of design of solar cooker.
Solar cooking is all about educating people on viable and alternative energy sources, for equatorial places like Africa and Asia, there are a plethora of solar cookers in use every day. THEY REALLY DO WORK.
I have boiled water and cooked food with my solar cookers and that’s in February, in Birmingham, England, admittedly on a nice sunny day.
May I suggest you try building one yourself, you will be pleasantly surprised, food tastes great.. and it’s free energy.
Why not purchase some reflective vinyl, and line a pizza box, or cardboard box, and see the results for yourself.
Solar cookers are extremely ECO-friendly, especially for 3rd world countries not needing to gather fire wood on a daily basis.
There may come a time when we won’t be reliant on microwaves, ovens, etc, we are living in very fickle times my friend, and great changes are on the horizon. With regards to your comment ‘there is no possible way to focus all the light and energy at one single part’, may I suggest you check out parabolic solar cookers, they are the most powerful design of all solar cookers, and you can MELT METAL with them.
Please let us know more of your thoughts David.
October 2nd, 2009 at 7:34 am
Rob , Spot with your comments . The GSO and it’s ilk sell 1000’s every year all over the world and the parabolics many times that I’m sure . Granted not the convenience or rapidity of a microwave and all those modern appliance but there is a great satisfaction to be gained by regulatly turning out a sun-cooked meal .
The world is changing ….it should be simple to gut useless microwaves and turn them into box cookers
Toasters ? I don’t know …never had one
October 2nd, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Hi Bryan
That’s a great point about turning white goods into solar cookers; never thought about using microwaves (the shell of) as a solar cooker, after all they offer great efficiency and would therefore offer high rates of return on energy conversion. Just place some reflective panels on the front and you’re up and running.
If only we had sun in the UK, I would love to test this concept out… The Microsun Solar Cooker.