Through modern technology and the science of photovoltaics, we have used the energy from the sun in many useful ways. Solar panels augment the electricity consumption of households, highways utilize solar-powered road signs and simple calculators and wristwatches function with just a single solar cell. But using the sun to cook your food? Yes, this is possible with a solar cooker.

A solar cooker is a device that cooks food using the heat of the sun as an energy source. Because it’s easy to assemble, utilizes no fossil fuel and operates at virtually zero cost, solar cookers are widely used by humanitarian organizations in war-torn and depressed areas and by environmentalists to lessen the use of wood as fuel. You can build and use your very own solar cooker at home too. Give your stove or oven a break and cook things up with a solar cooker in the great outdoors.

Despite differences in size, shape and complexity, solar cookers operate based on the simple principle of using the sun’s heat to cook food. Deriving the maximum energy from the sun is the main challenge of solar cooking. The simpler solar cookers use a mirror, or any type of reflective material to concentrate heat and light onto a single area.

The pots and pans which are used must also be coated with black on the inside, as this non-color absorbs sunlight and turns it to heat allowing the food to cook faster. Lastly, some cookers employ the greenhouse effect principle, whereby in using a clear solid such as glass or plastic, the sunlight absorbed is converted into trapped heat. Most cookers employ a combination of these strategies to get enough heat to start off the cooking process.

Though not exactly made for gourmet cooking, solar cookers can prepare practically anything that a conventional oven or stove can. Whether it is baked bread or roasted meat, solar cookers can get the job done.

The best thing about solar cookers is that they have made the lives of people all over the world better in many ways. In Africa, where sunshine is plentiful and money is scarce, solar cookers have allowed families to spend their money on food without having to buy cooking fuel. Women in war-torn Darfur do not have to leave the safety of their refugee camps to look for firewood.

Who would have thought that a simple contraption of cardboard, aluminum foil and plastic could have such a profound impact on the lives of people. But believe it or not, solar cookers do.

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