How to Build a Homemade Solar Cooker

Building a solar oven can be used for cooking food and they are incredibly easy and cheap to make. There are a variety of designs and materials a solar oven can use but they all rely on the following concepts:

• Concentration of sunlight; Reflective materials are used to concentrate the light.
• Conversion of light to heat; Black cookware will absorb more light resulting in more heat.
• Trapping heat; Covering the cookware with a transparant material will allow light to come in, convert to heat, and then stay trapped.

Using all three of these concepts together will produce the best results in a solar oven. Now let’s discuss how to construct and use a solar oven.

Any reflective material can be used to create a solar oven. One of the most common is aluminum foil. On the right you’ll see one made from a car windshield reflector. You’ll want to create a 1/4 sphere that focuses light onto your cookware. Another common material is cardboard which can be used to shape your “reflection disk” then attach aluminum foil or mylar.

Once you have your “reflection disk” created you’ll need something to cook in. As mentioned above black cookware will work the best. Your solar oven can reach temperatures as high 300 degrees F so you’ll want to seal up your solar oven cookware with an oven bag or glass lid. Using a plastic bag or other material runs the risk of melting or off gassing. As seen in the picture above you also might want to lift your cookware off the “reflection disk” to allow light to strike it from below. Any kind of stand that allows light through will work for this. Your solar oven can be used to cook anything that a normal oven can. You’ll just have to leave it cooking longer.

Time varies greatly depending on how much sunlight you’re recieving, what you’re cooking, how well designed the oven is, and other factors. Simply check on your food visually to determine when it’s done but don’t open the oven bag or remove the lid as you’ll let out the heat.

The image to the left shows the basic components you’ll need to create a solar oven again. You can find many designs and materials ideas online. However, being creative and using what you have available is the best bet. Despite what you might think a solar oven can cook anything just as well as a conventional oven. Food with water in it can’t reach beyond 212 degrees F which is well below the maximum temperature of a solar oven.

All you need is patience and you can enjoy renewable, free energy for cooking almost anything.