DIY solar oven

I made this solar oven for a school project and here are my results and information on how to build it step by step.

1. What is a solar oven?

A solar oven, unlike a conventional oven, is heated using solar thermal energy. Solar ovens can be used to heat food, cook, or pasteurize drinks. There are several types of solar ovens, such as conventional solar ovens, solar panels, and parabolic solar ovens. They were first invented in 1767 and are still used in parts of Africa, India and China. Next, I will talk about building such a stove with my own hands, its advantages and disadvantages.

2. Advantages of a solar oven

The solar oven has visible advantages. Firstly, they do not absorb electricity. This might save you some money. Also, solar ovens can be used regardless of location. Secondly, such devices do not harm the environment, since they do not require the use of electricity.

3. Limitations and disadvantages

The main disadvantage of a solar oven is that the heating temperature will depend on the design and amount of sunlight. Therefore, you should not use it on a cloudy day - the temperature will not reach the required level. In addition, the weather affects its operation. During thunderstorms or snow, the efficiency of using a solar oven will be greatly reduced. And finally, the most unpleasant fact is that if the solar oven is not built correctly, it can quickly break, or worse, cause burns.

4. Manufacturing process

To create my solar oven, I first read the instructions online to avoid mistakes.
The first thing I did was spray black heat attracting paint inside a regular box to attract heat and solar energy. Then I took another box, cut out four identical squares from it and glued reflective paper on it (you can use foil). All that remains is to glue these panels to the top of the main box.
Next, I set up the solar oven using a metal table, and placed a silver frying pan in it. I also put an oven safe thermometer in there. I angled the reflective panels slightly so that the hottest spot was in the center.
Now it's time to cook the scrambled eggs. I cracked the egg into the pan and closed the top of the oven, which is made up of four panels. You should also cover the oven tightly with cling film. This way, the heat inside the box will be retained and will allow you to cook food.

5. Materials

• Scotch.
  
• Reflective sheets (foil).
  
• Several cardboard boxes.
  
• Metal tray or frying pan.
  
• Metal table.
  
• Spray can with black paint.
  
• Food film.
  
• Thermometer.
  
• Egg.
  
• Scissors.
  
• Stationery knife.
  

7. Photos of the invention process

8.Photos of the cooking process

9. Let's summarize.

At 12:15 pm I started cooking the scrambled eggs. I didn’t pay attention to the temperature on the thermometer, but it was about 15 Celsius outside at that moment, it was cloudy.
I placed the solar oven in the sun and made sure the reflective panels were facing there as well.
At 3:31 p.m., the oven temperature was 65 degrees Celsius and not rising any higher, so the egg was not fully cooked.
In conclusion, I cannot say that the result of this project was successful. I will try to slightly change the design of my oven, for example, you can replace the cling film with a piece of ordinary glass or organic (plexiglass). Because the cling film could come off in some places. In addition, for my experiment I chose a not very good day - there was no direct sunlight due to clouds.
I hope this article was able to help, and if you need to build a solar oven, you will use my tips!
Original article in English