Learning About Solar Oven Types

There are four solar oven types that we'll be discussing: (there are more types, but these are the types we'll be talking about here)

1. Box cooker solar ovens
2. Reflective panel solar cookers
3. Parabolic solar cookers
4. Fresnel solar cookers

There are more than just four types of solar cookers, but these are the four we'll be discussing.

(About the graphics on these pages - YES! I hand drew them. I like to draw, even though I'm not very good at it.)

There are many images of solar oven types on the search engines, but I just want to give you a basic idea of what some of them look like and some of the features of the different types of solar ovens and cookers.

Let's discuss the box type solar oven first.

Solar Box Ovens/Solar Box Cookers

The glazing on this solar box oven is labeled "Glass". The glazing does not have to be glass. It can be any material that allows sunlight to pass through, as long as it holds up to the high temperatures and doesn't allow the heat to escape back out of the solar oven.

I've seen turkey bags used as the glazing on some solar box cookers. The bags are relatively cheap (about $1 per bag), and they can last as long as 30 days depending on usage. Sometimes they only last a couple of uses.

Reflectors. Solar box type ovens usually have at least one reflector. Some box type solar ovens don't have any external reflectors. This is okay, but they generally won't reach the types of temperatures that solar ovens with multiple reflectors will.

The box type solar oven is probably the most commonly used type of solar cooker in developed countries because of its simple design and ability to reach high cooking temperatures.

Commercially made (and home made) solar ovens can reach temperatures of anywhere from 300 to 450 degrees F if well constructed.

What does this mean to you? Higher cooking temperatures in your solar oven means faster cooking times and the ability to cook foods that require higher temperatures.

Most homemade solar ovens (box type cookers) are constructed of cardboard, with various materials being used for insulation between the inner and outer walls. The reason for using cardboard and aluminum foil (or Mylar) is that these materials are cheap and abundant.

If your box type solar oven is well insulated, it will hold temperatures better and you won't have to align it with the sun as often to achieve the same results as a poorly insulated oven that needs to be aligned with the sun frequently.

If I'm going to be around while the food is cooking, I'll generally turn the solar oven every 30 to 45 minutes. The re-orientation will usually be between 5-10 degrees angle ahead of the sun.

Next in line for our different solar oven types, we'll discuss (Reflective) Solar Panel Cookers.

Reflective Panel Solar Cookers

A solar panel cooker generally does not reach the kind of temperatures that a box oven does. Typically, your panel cooker will cook between 200 and 300 degrees F. This is okay for most foods.

The first solar panel cooker I made, which was much larger than it needed to be, was made of cardboard, aluminum foil and the inside of cheese cracker bags (Mylar). It reached 250 degrees F. on a cold winter day with a clear sky, around the middle of December.

If you want to read all about solar cooker reflectors, click here.
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