There have been quite a few innovative solar oven styles designed, and they are both affordable and simple to construct and is very different to learning about how do you build a solar panel. Construct a box for your cooker out of MDF. I discovered small veneer pins to be exceptionally useful because they may be pounded neatly into the end grain of thin MDF and not split the wood.
For this application they’re completely strong enough.
Now measure the size of the cube within the lined polystyrene box. Cut the mirror plastic to the right size and line the box with it. Duck Tape is more than perfect for making good all the joints and securing things into place. We now need to chop the mirrored reflectors. Use a bandsaw to cut a 2 foot wide strip of mirror plastic.
Mark from the long side of the mirror to the corner of the mirror, a line which makes an angle of 67 degrees, forming a right-angled triangle in the scrap piece of plastic. Now you have to mark up a string of trapeziums down the side of the mirror, where the shortest part is the same length as the inside of the cooker box. Use duck tape to join the mirrored reflectors on the non-reflective side so that the reflector side is on the top. Using Duck Tape permits you to make flexible hinges, which permit the reflector to be folded and stored out of the way. Take the stove to a sunny area to use. Situating the rods sustaining the reflectors can be a lot simpler if you have someone to hang on to the reflector at the right angle as you arrange and glue the support rod.
To make your cooker more effective, and to get it to cook at higher temperatures, you must trap in the heat. Without a cover hot air will rise bringing in an unceasing flow of cooler air. Range cooking bags are inexpensive and straightforward to use. A pane of glass, ideally double-pane glass is an alternative solution. The glass should be barely wider and longer than the smaller box, but small enough so you can simply remove it from the inner box. An alternative way to make the stove better is to use specular film rather than tin foil for the outside reflectors. This may not be used inside your oven since it is unable to withstand the high temperature. In a pinch you can heat precooked foods like canned products with the double zip lock bag trick. The food should be placed within a smaller zip-lock sack nestled inside of a bigger plastic zip-lock.
If a reflector, such as one for an auto window, or a chip bag turned inside out is available, set these on it. Of course solar ovens will not generate electricity, to do this you will need to learn how to build a solar panel.
Do you want to take a nice, hot bath when the power is out or on a camping trip? Fill two litre soda bottles with water and place them on your vehicle’s dash board in the sun. Shut your car doors and windows to trap the heat. Bathe when the sun is at the highest point in the sky. If you’d like to take a bath at night put the warm bottles in a thermo box. Alternatively you can learn how to build a solar panel to power your appliances
