According to SolSource, One Earth Designs, most solar cookers fall into three general categories:
- Solar Panel Cookers
- Solar Ovens
- Parabolic Solar Stoves
These three general types all use panels to direct light and transfer heat directly onto the cooker.
Our project, however, is utilizing this light to create electricity, which will generate heat for the cooker.
A hybridized form of solar power and solar electric power was created by GoSun - the GoSun Fusion. This cooker utilizes the parabolic solar method of direct heat from the sun during the day, but also has a foldable solar panel that charges an electric battery for cooking at night.
Currently, a large portion of the global population uses biomass as fuel for fires to cook. This results in a large amount of harmful greenhouse gasses that are detrimental to the environment as well as the physical health of those near the stove. Cooking with wood leads to over 4 million annual deaths!
This leads to the appeal in solar-powered cooking. By negating the need for wood, gas, or dung, an enormous amount of emissions would be prevented. Solar cooking provides an alternative to biomass, that doesn't require gathering materials, harming your body, or releasing fumes into the environment.
Solar power is good for the Earth and for the body!