When I think about cooking with the sun, I think of two possible ways to go –
a) The higher tech indirect method, and
b) The lower tech direct method.
The higher tech method requires quite a few bits and pieces including solar electric panels, batteries, a solar charge controller such as an MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracker) and an inverter to convert the 12vac or 24vac from the batteries into 240vac. As well as this you need a whole lot of copper wire to transfer the power around your system, but it allows you to use your standard home appliances (depending on the size of your system) like an electric benchtop oven or induction cooker. This represents a fair bit of cash and requires work by licensed electricians to make it all come together but pays dividends in terms of convenience and allows you to ‘cook with the sun’ even after the sun has gone down!
In contrast, cooking with the sun using the sun directly is much simpler. There are many different designs out there of direct solar cookers and I have made and used quite a few. You don’t need any assistance from tradies, you can do all the work yourself and the materials are comparatively inexpensive. Having said that, I do make use of professional glass cutters where glass and/or mirror cutting is required, but if you are, as they say ‘skilled in the art’ that might not be an issue for you. The rest of the construction requires only moderate DIY skills and I figure if I can do it, almost anyone can. There is also a certain satisfaction in cooking food using only the sun in a device you have build yourself. Every time I cook a meal in the solar oven I am amazed that it has been cooked wholly using the heat coming directly from the sun.
The downside is, of course, that you need a sunny day to do the cooking, plus you can only cook while the sun is shining and high enough in the sky to provide sufficient heat. Our main meal of the day is our evening meal and the low tech route can cause difficulties for that approach. However, by teaming up with another low tech cooking method – cooking with stored heat, it is still possible to have that hot evening meal even if the time of year means cooking with the sun will finish a bit early.
We have and use both approaches here, although I will admit that the convenience of the high tech method makes things easier, it does not have the satisfaction associated with the low tech method. Also, we had direct solar cooking appliances many years before we had the money to put the higher tech cooking methods in place.
I want to enable people who don’t have the means to put their own solar electricity system in place to still be able to save money and energy, reduce waste and pollution, as well as increasing personal satisfaction by cooking directly with the sun. If you are still interested, here are some links to articles on how to do this!
Parabolic Reflecting Solar Cooker
'Primrose' Reflecting Solar Cooker
