Photos of a solar box cooker. Temps up to 325F on a typical sunny day. Made from materials lying around the house. Scrap wood, scrap glass, paper insulation, paperboard, white glue, screws, metal brackets. Uses 5mil mylar for the reflectors. 2mil can be used as well.
Finished cooker looks like this (click any of the pictures for a closer look)
Started with a prebuilt box. Lid shown open.
Insulating the box with cardboard glued together using non-toxic white glue
More insulation
Inside is now trough shaped (using paperboard) and is lined with aluminum foil. Foil was glued down with non-toxic white glue. Be sure nothing toxic is on the inside of your box. Also note that the glass lid sits down in a slot that runs all the way around the cooker. Thus the glass fits into a frame. Normal glass was used. Tempered glass is better, but is expensive and you can't cut it yourself. Don't use plexiglas as it can melt and offgas under high temps. The glass has little strips of metal tape that form tabs for lifting the glass up and lowering it back down.
Prop used to hold the box open
Prop shown with the lid open
Metal slot to hold up the side reflectors. Reflectors can slide in and out of these slots. Provides for easy storage of the oven
The prop holds the lid from leaning too far back, but if you lean the whole oven forward, the lid will fall closed. Thus there is a large screw-eye placed right up against the prop. Turn the screw eye horizontally to lock the prop in place. Turn the screw eye vertically to allow the prop to be free, thus you can close the lid again.
Leveling device. Using a wing-nut, this leveler can help tilt the oven forward to catch the sun. Stores in the horizontal position
Inside of oven has a removable metal rod at the top. The rod has screws in it that help hold a pot with a handle in place. The pot will level itself if you've tilted the oven forward, thus the food doesnt spill
Little screw-eyes with paper clips help hook the reflectors in place and prevents them from falling forward if you've tilted the oven forward.
Dog assistant during construction
| Measurements for this cooker: Box: 15" w 17 1/2" deep 7 1/2" h Glass: Insulation throughout (crushed up paper, or use anything non toxic) Left and Right side reflectors: Front reflector: Rear reflector is just the lid of the box which is the only thing that is hinged to the box. It would be 15 w x 17 1/2 deep |
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