Solar Cooker Project
Name(s)________________________________________________
Purpose: To demonstrate how to efficiently collect and use solar energy by building a solar
oven/cooker. Research and design a solar cooker that will raise the temperature of 300 mL
of water in a 15 ounce tin can as high and fast as possible. You may work alone or in a group
of two.
Resources:
http://solarcooking.org/ Explore this website, it has lots of different designs for solar
cookers, ranging from simply made of recycled materials to complex, expensive
designs. Look through the whole page for lots of help. Plans can be found here:
http://solarcooking.org/plans/
When choosing your design you may want to take into account that we will be doing this
from 8-10am (Where is the sun at that time? Angles?)
Safety: Don’t get blinded! The reflection of sunlight in your eyes can hurt your retina. The
damage is painless but permanent, and can result in blindness. Don’t burn yourself! Solar
ovens can get extremely hot.
Materials:
 Your design must include space inside to hold a 15 ounce can filled with 300 mL of
water. (you will provide the can)
 Your design must also be portable – you will be carrying your oven outside for testing.
 All heat in your oven must come from the sun. No flames, no electric power, no heating
elements, no batteries.
 No magnifying lenses (due to fire risk).
 No glass.
 Your design must be wind resistant.
 Use simple materials found around your home. You may purchase additional materials
that you need, but you are not to buy a solar cooker kit that has the materials ready for
you.
 Mininmum of 60 % of your project must be made from used or recycled material.
Points:
25 Points: Researching Solar Cookers WEB QUEST. You must answer all the questions correctly (Each
person in the group must do their own WEB QUEST).
180 points: Solar Cooker DESIGN PAPER. You must follow following guidelines to write your paper:
30 Points: Calculations
+15 Points Extra Credit: If you bring something to Cook for others on the day of the Final (Smores,
cookies, etc….) Make sure that you have a surface to cook it on that is safe and appropriate.
Researching SOLAR COOKERS Web Quest
Total Points: 25
We will be learning about solar cookers, so to start you need to research them. Go to
http://solarcooking.org/plans/.
Find Panel Cookers – take a look at the pictures.
1. List 3 basic materials that can be used to build a solar cooker.
2. What is the power source for a solar cooker?
__________________
Go to the Following Link: http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Solar_cooker_plans Read the
information on this page to answer the questions.
1. What are the three types of solar cookers?
2. What are the advantages of the panel cooker?
3. What are the disadvantages of the panel cooker?
4. What are the advantages of the box cooker?
5. What are the disadvantages of the box cooker?
6. What are the advantages of the parabolic cooker?
7. What are three disadvantages to the parabolic cooker?
Solar Cooker Project modified from Trivedi and Pham
Go to the following link: http://s olarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Where_is_solar_cooking_possible%3F
8. What latitudes work best for solar ovens?
9. What are the top five countries for solar energy potential? _____________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Go to the following link: http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Solar_cooking_frequently-asked_questions
Look through this page to answer these questions (they are in order):
10. What kind of cloud cover is ok to cook in? _________________________________________________
11. Who invented the first solar cooker and in what year?
_________
12. Whwere are solar ovens being used the most? _____________________________________________
13. What temperature do most solar ovens cook at? __________________ Food will cook fine as long as the
termperature reaches? _________________
14. Why do people prefer to cook at lower temperatures?
15. How long does food in a single reflector box cooker take to cook?
16. Why is it not necessary to carefully watch food or stir it while it cooks?
17. What are the three factors that need to be in place to make it possible for poor people to solar cook on an
on-going basis?
18. If you build a box cooker out of cardboard, will it catch fire?
19. How often could you use your solar cooker if you lived in Canada?
20. How often could you use your solar cooker if you lived in a tropical region?
Solar Cooker Project modified from Trivedi and Pham
21. What happens if the sun goes in front of the clouds while I’m cooking? Will the food still cook?
22. At what temperature in 0F does food cook?
23. What is the best type of pot to use for cooking?
24. To make water safe to drink, what has to be done to it?
At what temperature does this occur?
Solar Cooker Project modified from Trivedi and Pham
Solar Cooker Project Rubric
Name(s)__________________________________________
The Solar Cooker Project must meet or exceed the requirements under each category to earn maximum
points for that category.
CATAGORY
Max.
Points
WEB QUEST:
 All questions are answered correctly and
completely.
 Each person in the group completed a webquest
25
TYPED PAPER (one per group)
Max.
Points
PICTURE OF SOLAR COOKER:
 Full page picture/diagram of the solar cooker
 It is drawn neatly and used a ruler for straight
lines
 Labels for all parts and materials used in the
construction.
 Labels written neatly
Paragraph 1: OWN DESIGN:
 Thorough explanation is provided for why each
material was used in the design.
Paragraph 2: OTHER DESIGNS
CONSIDERED:
 Clear explanation about other designs of solar
cooker that were considered is provided.
 Specific explanation of why each of those
designs were disregarded.
Paragraph 3: FLAWS IN YOUR DESIGN:
 Flaws in student’s own design are clearly
explained.
 Suggestions for fixing the flaws in the design
are clearly stated. (If the solar cooker was build
again…).
FORMATTING:
 Research paper is typed with double spacing
 Any information taken from sources is cited
correctly in the paper.
 A bibliography is done correctly using the right
format
Solar Cooker Project modified from Trivedi and Pham
20
20
20
20
20
Points
Earned
Comment
Points
Earned
Comments
SOLAR COOKER MODEL
DESIGN:
 Design of the solar cooker is creative.
 It is visually inviting and appealing (someone
might want to buy it)
 It is engaging and attention grabbing
QUALITY OF MODEL:
 Built with a high quality of craftsmanship (The
parts of the cooker do not fall apart)
 Minimum 60% green building materials
 +10 for 100% green materials
 Attempted to fix problems after the test
TESTING: (on 5/31 during the period)
o
 The temperature of water rises at least 5 C in
20 minutes or less time.
 Has there own 15 ounce can
 Your design was present for testing
FUNCTIONALITY:
o
 Starting temp. of the water _________ C
 The temperature of the water after 40 min.
_______ oC
 The amount the temperature rose in 40 min.
_________ (+5 if yours is the most)
 The time it took to raise 300 mL of water by
10 oC ___________ (min) (+5 if you are the
quikest)
Solar Cooker Project modified from Trivedi and Pham
Max.
Points
20
20
20
20
Points
Earned
Comments
How much of the Sun's energy did you capture in your cooker?
Do as much of this as you can while you are building it. Some of it can be done on the test
day and the rest will be completed on the day of the Final.
These calculations will tell the tale!
PART 1: Measurements
1. The diameter of the top of your can (in cm) = _________
2. Mentally divide your aluminum solar panels up into rectangles and circles. For each part,
measure its length and width (in cm) or diameter (in cm).
3. The temperature rose from _________ °C to __________ °C.
4. We started heating at ___________ and ended at __________ (time).
PART 2: Hypothesis
How efficient do you think your cooker is? That is, what percentage (%) of the sunlight
hitting the cooker do you think was actually used to warm up the water inside the can?
PART 3: Calculations
(A) The Solar Panels
1. The area of the top of the can = πr2 = _______________ cm2.
2. The area of each rectangle (length x width) or circle (in cm2) =
3. The total area of solar panels = __________ cm2.
4. Our solar panels provided (area of panels/area of can) _______________ times more area
of sunlight than the beaker alone.
(B) Heat Energy
1. The change in temperature of water in beaker = __________ °C
2. The heat energy to warm the water = (1 cal/°C.g) x (300 g water) x (change in
temperature) = _________ calories
3. The time the water was heated = ____________ minutes
4. The total solar energy reaching cooker = (0.3cal/min.cm2)x(total area of solar panels) x
(time in minutes) = ____________ calories
5. Our cooker was (heat energy to warm the water/solar energy reaching cooker)x100 =
___________% efficient.