Solar cooking and solar ovens in the world

Solar cooking and solar ovens in the world

Solar ovens are not objects of the future or of the past but an alternative increasingly used in more and more countries in the world to cook food without energy other than the sun. The first solar cooker was invented in 1768 by a Horace de Saussure (a Swiss man) who made numerous experiments on the greenhouse effect and invented the first solar oven model box-shaped and equipped with reflectors to concentrate sunlight.

Today there are thousands of models of solar ovens and more recently appeared a parabolic solar cookers concentration model that is based on the concentration of solar radiation at a point where you can place a pot, using a parabolic reflector.

Solar ovens often reach 160°C and allow temperatures for frying potatoes or boiling water in large quantities. In Europe, only few people who have a good terrace can enjoy solar cooking, but solar cooking equipment are also used increasingly in countries where solar radiation is constant throughout the year and where resources to cook are limited and the impact on the environment in important.

In Africa, for example, every year numerous solar ovens projects take place with parabolic models of solar cookers. It is good to remember that more than half of the world population has only wood or coal to cook every day, aggravating in certain sensitive areas deforestation and desertification. This medium has several inconvenient more than being expensive for these populations: firewood need hard work and time that could be used to develop other activities in many homes and the smoke of this type of cooking solution each year cause many health problems for people.

What is a solar cooker or solar oven?

A solar cooker or a solar oven is a device which uses sun to cook food or boil water, and it works! The vast majority of the solar cookers often used are not expensive devices. Generally they don't need fuel and cost nothing to operate, many NGO are showing how they work worldwide to help reduce energy costs for poor families. Using solar ovens also reduce desertification, caused by use of firewood for cooking. Cooking with a solar oven is a form of outdoor cooking and is often used when it is dangerous to cook because of high risk of accidental fires in south countries.

Which are the advantages of cooking with a solar oven?

Solar ovens don't need fossil energy, which means that solar cookers do not need to fetch or use their money for firewood, or other fossil energies.

Solar ovens can reach temperatures of 150°C, so it is also possible to sterilize water or cooking most foods that can be made in a conventional stove, from baked bread to roasted chicken. Since solar cookers are placed out of the kitchen, they don't contribute unwanted heat inside houses. Also solar ovens do not produce pollution.

Are there some disadvantages of cooking with a solar oven?

Solar cookers are less usable when rainy weather but it exist fuel-based backup heat source in these conditions. Solar ovens take longer time to cook food than a fuel-based oven. Using a solar oven therefore requires that cooking a cake be started several hours before the meal. However, it requires less attention, so this is often considered a reasonable solution.

More info: http://www.solarcookingatlas.com

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