Learn How To Build a Solar Cooker

Learn how to build a solar cooker - we will be harnessing the sun's energy from a relatively wide area and concentrating it to a smaller area using mirrors. The area which we will concentrate it into will be lined with polystyrene to keep in the heat.

Materials You will need includes:

• Sheet of thin MDF
• Sheet of flexible mirror plastic
• Sheet of thin polystyrene
• Veneer panel pins
• Tools
• Bandsaw
• Pin hammer
• Sharp Knife/scalpel
• Angle marking gauge

Construct a box for your cooker out of MDF. I find small veneer pins to be very useful as they can be hammered neatly into the end grain of thin MDF without splitting the wood. For this application they are perfectly strong enough.

Now you need to line the box with polystyrene, this will prevent the heat from escaping.

Now measure the size of the cube inside the lined polystyrene box. You should cut the mirror plastic to this size, and further line the box with it. Duck Tape is more than ideal for making good all of the joints and securing things into place.

We now need to cut the mirrored reflectors. Cut a strip of mirror plastic about two feet wide on the bandsaw. Now, use an angle marking gauge. Mark from the long side of the mirror to the very corner of the mirror, a line which makes an angle of 67deg, forming a right-angled triangle in the scrap piece of plastic. You now need to mark out a series of trapeziums along this length of mirror, where the shortest side is equal to the length of the inside of the box cooker.

Now take the mirrored reflectors, and on the non-reflective side, use Duck Tape to join them together to form the reflector which will sit on the top. Using Duck Tape allows you to make flexible hinges, which allow the reflector to be folded and stored out of the way.

If you are interested to learn more on how to make a DIY solar panel, visit:
http://www.greenearth4energy.com

You may also want to get your DIY installation guide here:
http://www.earthenergyguide.com

Learn Solar Energy - How To Make a Solar Cooker:
http://www.prlog.org/10298841-solar-energy-how-to-make-solar-cooker.html