Building a Solar Cooker

Building a Solar Cooker is easily accomplished With the right resources... we would like to help you find the best ones for your ideal cooker.

There are many sites available on the internet that offer plans for building a solar cooker.

Some plans are quite simple and others are a bit more complex in design and more involved in their use.

Do not let the simplicity and the rustic looking nature of a homemade solar oven fool you though, just because they are made from ordinary, common, everyday materials does not mean that they can not cook.Most well built homemade solar cookers can cook about anything you can imagine.

Several books have been written on solar cooking that include plans and information for building a solar cooker from these common everyday items.

Have you already built a homemade solar oven? How did it turn out? What things did you do well and what things did you do...well, not so well? Share with us your own experiences of building a solar cooker from scratch! ** You can contribute your own story by clicking here to go to the submission form ...Already Built My Own Solar Cooker

Due to the scope and complexity of accumulating and illustrating the large numbers of styles and varieties available, we offer a good source for solar oven plans.

One of the easiest and least expensive ways to build a simple solar cooker can be found here on this page, showing how to make an effective solar "panel" cooker for less than $5.00

Another very informative site for home made solar oven plans is found on The Solar Cooking Archive at Solarcooking.org which also sponsors a Wiki about solar cooking.

All of the plans on the site are designed and built by individuals and organizations, some are proprietary and require permission to use, sell or distribute but the great majority can be constructed and used by anyone, this being the purpose behind the display and dissemination of home made solar ovens and solar cooker plans on this site.

All of the plans are very functional and can be used to attain great results for most any cooking need.These plans offer a great opportunity to also teach students, scouts and other groups the principles behind solar energy and its uses for practical application in the art of solar cooking.

  Of the many sites available for plans, one of my very favorite and the best for learning about parabolic solar cookers and how they work and how to build them is Solreka.com

Here is great site: (SOLAR FIRE) about a loosely grouped organization of people who are helping to bring larger scale solar cookers to communities around the world, including in the USA. Here you can find information and see the results of many who are working to bring solar cooking to the masses. Solar Fire Project

And one more that was developed with many trials and effort; and has become a popular solar oven design used by enthusiasts everywhere The Heavens Flame

Here is a site that will help you build a very effective and very versatile solar box cooker, in fact it is one of the best cookers you can make for a very reasonable cost in materials.This is the All Season Solar Cooker, from Jim LaJoie of San Diego.

The panel cooker is quite possibly the simplest to make, and the most economical of the three types of solar cookers, yet it can be just as effective at cooking as the other two previously mentioned cookers.

Because of the ease and simplicity involved in its construction, there are an abundance of solar cooker designs and solar cooker plans available for the panel cooker all over the internet.

And last, but not least, is the Parvati Cooker, designed, built and described by a solar cook from India, Ravindra Pardeshi and his wife, (who, by the way, writes very good English)

I like the design and the simple materials needed to build this cooker.Parvati Cooker


Here is a nice and very effective panel cooker that comes in a ready made kit form that you just have to assemble and start using right away. You can purchase the ready made kit for a very nominal cost.Copehhagen Solar Cooker Light

Note: With any and all plans and designs, time and effort should be given to patiently read and analyze the information presented; whereas some instruction tends to be more understandable and clear than others, due to the writing and organizational skills or lack thereof, of the authors.

For those who are also interested in a high quality manufactured solar cooker, please visit our Solar Ovens Comparison page to find out what is offered on the solar cooking market.

Panel Cookers in Mexico	Parabolic Cookers in Southeast Asia	Solar box cookers in Peruvian village

...Not quite the handy person? Already built a solar cooker? Would you rather buy a manufactured solar cooker? ...You can visit our Solar Cooker Comparisons page or go directly to our Solar Cooker Purchase page and see if there is something there that will fit your alternative energy cooking needs.

Share with others your tips, suggestions and ideas on what you did to build a homemade solar oven.

If you have been successful, and even unsuccessful,in building a solar cooker, whether it's the first solar oven or the tenth oven, we would like to hear how you did it!

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How well did it turn out and how well did it cook?

**Many of our visitors come looking for detailed, hands on instruction for building a solar oven and we would really appreciate sharing your experiences in order to help them.

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What Other Visitors Have contributed

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Return from Building a Solar Cooker back to Home page

Go to:
** Homemade Solar Ovens: Best Materials and Supplies
Adhesive backed Silver Reflective Vinyl

Solar Cooking Pots, Pans and accessories

Build a Simple Solar "Panel" Cooker for less than $5.00
Pizza Box Solar Oven...build your own
Solar cooker varieties and styles
Solar cookers: Pros and Cons of Each Style
Solar Cooking Recipes
"Hot Pot" Solar Cooker Experiences
Emergency Food Preparedness with a Solar Cooker
Hay Box Cookers

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