Solar Technology









Solar Cooking

In 1764, French inventor Horace de Saussure produced temperatures of 225 degrees Fahrenheit in glass-covered boxes lined with black cork. Another Frenchman, Augustin Muchot, designed a solar oven in the 1870s that was used for many years by the French Foreign Legion.

These solar ovens operated on the same principles as solar cookers of today. An insulated box is covered with a clear window allowing access to light. The light rays are absorbed by the oven's inside surface and are transformed into heat energy. Heat radiates out from the surface and collects inside the cooker. Some of it escapes back through the window or 'cracks" in the cooker, but not as quickly as additional light enters.

These simple cookers also encompass a collector, storage and controls. The collector is a glass or heat-resistant plastic cover that lets sunlight inside. Storage occurs because insulation prevents heat from escaping. Storage is also provided by the food itself, which absorbs heat.

Controls for a solar oven are the reflectors. Reflectors help control the temperature by concentrating the sun's rays onto the cooking area. Temperatures can also be adjusted by repositioning a solar oven in relation to the sun. If lower temperatures are needed, the oven can merely be pointed a bit away from the sun's direct rays.

In Arizona's abundant sunshine, solar ovens can reduce a home's cooling needs. Each time you use your conventional oven during the summer months, you are also having to use additional electricity to cool and dehumidify an air conditioned home. Solar ovens not only use no electricity or natural gas, but they don't heat-up the house.

Fore more information on how to construct your own solar oven, click here.