Solar oven
 |
| This article is part of the Food theme. Alimentation |
Solar ovens are appliances that capture and use solar energy.
Two types exist :
- Concentration (for example solar cookers)
- Greenhouse
However both techniques can be combined in the same equipment.
Contents |
[edit] Description
[edit] Concentration ovens
The basic principle of concentration ovens or cookers lies in making the sun beams converge onto a much smaller surface.
As a consequence, the energy is concentrated and can be used to various aims : cooking food, manufacturing building materails (glass, bricks), desalination, heating, energy production, or even forging metal!
The solar convectors (mirrors), also called heliostats, will come in different shapes :
- most commonly flat;
- parabolic, the beams reflected by the parabola are focussed to one point: the hearth of the parabola. The temperature can reach 3000 °C (Odeillo oven in the Pyrénées)!
Some tiny ovens can be used to light a fire or a cigarette (instead of a lighter or matches).
[edit] Greenhouse ovens
The basic principle of greenhouse ovens is to trap the solar beams, and so the heat inside the oven. Thus food or water can be heated.
[edit] Solar cooking and savings
Using gas or electricity for cooking will cost some hundred Euros to the average subscriptor (for a household of 2 to 3 people). Not to mention nuclear wastes (about 30 grams) Co2 (about 120 kg) emissions!
Using solar energy to cook meals on sunny days means saving money and reducing emissions! cf. The solar cooking Atlas
