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Entries related to Parabolic



August 30, 2009



Fun solar cooker from old Satellite Dish

June 09, 2009



Roasting a Marshmallow (with Nothing but the Sun)

How to roast a marshmallow:

Step 1: Stick marshmallow in center of parabolic cooker.
Step 2: Point parabolic cooker at the sun.
Step 3: Enjoy!

December 05, 2008



Butterfly Community Solar Cooker from TinyTechIndia

Tiny Tech India has come up with a new version of a parabolic solar reflector called the Butterfly Community Solar Cooker.

According to the web site, it's advantages are:

  • As there are two equal reflectors - one on each side-, weight is balanced and hence it does not require foundations in the ground. It is mounted on 4 castor wheels and can be revolved and shifted in any direction at any moment even while cooking. In Scheffler Reflector, it is essential to fix the cooker with ground by RCC foundations.
  • It is not necessary to find out north south direction. In Scheffler Reflector, it is essential to fix north-south line and fit the cooker on that line.
  • It does not require to install on polar axis. So no latitude of the location is necessary to know. In Scheffler Reflector, it is essential to fix entire structure to revolve around polar axis and hence latitude of the location must be known.
  • It does not require any seasonal adjustment. In Scheffler Reflector, it is essential to make seasonal adjustment every week.
  • It is dispatched in dismantled condition and it can be assembled at site very quickly without any expert guidance. So installation staff is not necessary. In Scheffler Reflector, it is essential to send expert person for installation.
  • 100% reflector area is utilized as aperture area as against 70 to 80 aperture area is used in Scheffler reflector. So 8 sq mt butterfly is equivalent to 10 sq mt Scheffler reflector.
  • Both wings (reflectors) can be folded vertically on hinges very quickly. Hence when not in use, it will occupy very less space.
  • It can be quickly adjusted against focus by any layman without any training.
  • The cost of Butterfly cooker of equal capacity is only 50% of Scheffler reflector.

Learn more about TinyTechIndia at http://www.tinytechindia.com

November 19, 2008



John Grandinetti's Indirect Solar Cooker

Mr. Grandinetti's oven can be made for about $21 dollars and here's the kicker: he is giving it away. He doesn't want to sell the plans, he wants a company to take it and mass produce it for third world countries so that forests won't need to be cut down for things like cooking fires. A noble idea indeed. It will be interesting to see if any company, anywhere steps up and takes him up on his offer.

John Grandinetti is a solar contractor out of Honolulu, and the owner of Grand Solar Inc. This isn't his first foray into the solar cooking/pasteurization field. He also has created similar devices for the purpose of pasteurizing water in the late 90's for third world installations in Tanzania and Guatemala.

Continue reading "John Grandinetti's Indirect Solar Cooker" »

November 05, 2008



Solar Cooking Workshop in Nyala, Darfur

Nyala was the headquarters of the Daju empire, which was established around Jebel Um-Kurdós, until the fall of the Daju rule at the end of the 15th century, according to an account of sultan Daju Kassi Furok or Kassifrogé who mounted the Antelope from Darfur then perished in Dar Sila.

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November 03, 2008



Green Power Science: Pasta Cooked through a Fresnel Lens

Continue reading "Green Power Science: Pasta Cooked through a Fresnel Lens" »

November 01, 2008



Bander Beyla: Successful Solar Cooking in Somalia

Bander Bayla was the first village in Somalia to be helped after the tsunami with solar cookers. Stoves were distributed to over 950 people. See pictures of this beautiful, remote, tsunami affected village.

Continue reading "Bander Beyla: Successful Solar Cooking in Somalia" »



Bander Beyla: Successful Solar Cooking in Somalia

Bander Bayla was the first village in Somalia to be helped after the tsunami with solar cookers. Stoves were distributed to over 950 people. See pictures of this beautiful, remote, tsunami affected village.

Continue reading "Bander Beyla: Successful Solar Cooking in Somalia" »

October 21, 2008



Solar Concentrated energy from a recycled satellite dish

This is made from:

  • old 6 foot satellite dish

  • recycled mirror bits

  • cheap or recycled conduit

  • spaghetti pot

  • liquid nails or other heavy duty glue

  • black muffler paint

He says in the video that this solar cooker boils a pot of water as fast (or faster) than his propane cook top.

Free energy from the sun!

October 07, 2008



GreenPowerScience Flash Cooks An Egg

It's pretty cool that this video isn't sped up or cropped in anyway. She simply shows you how easily and quickly an egg can be cooked using the power of the sun, some oil, and an excellent Fresnel lens.

That's just neat.

Continue reading "GreenPowerScience Flash Cooks An Egg" »

October 05, 2008



The Chief of Solar Cookers

own words "IT'S JUST THE POWER OF THE SUN!!!"

Onyemaechi Chukwuemeka is the self-proclaimed "Chief of the Solar cooker." I love this dude! His voice makes listening to him like relaxinging in a warm tub. He's definitely excited about this solar cooking thing.

Happy about solar cooking

Continue reading "The Chief of Solar Cookers" »

October 04, 2008



Spanish Omlette on a Nifty Solar Cooker

I really like how this parabola is designed to rotate and become a shield while you're working with the food and then a focuser while you're letting it cook. Seems like a very safe way to be cookign food in a solar cooker.

Continue reading "Spanish Omlette on a Nifty Solar Cooker" »

October 03, 2008



Pressure Cooker Gets Overcooked in Solar Cooker

Pressure cooking is a method of cooking in a sealed vessel that does not permit air or liquids to escape below a preset pressure. Because the boiling point of water increases as the pressure increases, the pressure built up inside the cooker allows the liquid in the pot to rise to a higher temperature before boiling.

Continue reading "Pressure Cooker Gets Overcooked in Solar Cooker" »

October 02, 2008



Engineers Without Borders: Solar Cooker Challenge

These are solar cooker ideas from the Engineers without borders solar cooker challenge.

Maybe you can get some ideas here for building your own solar cooker!

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How to Make a Solar Smoker in 30 seconds or less

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October 01, 2008



A Meal from solar cookers

A Meal from solar cookers

Carrie and I decided that it would be fun to eat an entire meal cooked by the sun.

So, we took our three cookers. In one, we placed leftover chili. In another, we placed potatoes.

And in a third, we placed Joan's rice pudding (for dessert). Thanks Joan!

All three videos are posted below (we made them for YouTube as individual videos, but we ate this as a full meal).

Other than the mildly disappointing results from the sun not cooking the rice pudding (simply because we didn't get it outside early enough in the day, we were very pleased with how this meal turned out!

Baked Potatoes wrapped in foil and cooked in an eagle solar cooker

Continue reading "A Meal from solar cookers" »