Introduction: Pizza Box Solar Cooker
Hi! My name is Kari and today I am teaching you how to build a pizza box solar oven that can reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit. This solar oven is very simplistic and very effective.
Step 1: What a Solar Oven Is and What It Does
A solar oven is a box that is covered in reflective paper and harnesses the sun's energy and turns it into heat. A solar oven can cook food, reheat food, and boil water. This solar oven cannot boil water, but others can.
Step 2: Benefits
Some benefits of using a solar oven are the cost effectiveness, the Earth-friendliness, and lastly its ability to help people who don't have access to electricity or fuel. First, solar ovens don't need to be plugged in or burn fuel, which saves a lot of money. Thank goodness the sun's light is free! In addition, solar ovens are not burning precious fossil fuels or giving off deadly emissions, which in some people's book is the only thing they care about. In conclusion, People in areas that have been overtaken by poverty and not having electricity, the solar oven is a great choice because it doesn't need to be plugged in, as I mentioned before, and that is great for places where electricity is not available. Solar ovens are even portable so for a weekend camping trip you can forget about making fires to cook those hot dogs!
Step 3: Limitations
Some people need big ovens, or need an oven that can reach 500+ degrees. Although a solar cooker can get hot, none can become that hot. Solar ovens aren't that big, and if they were, you would need a LOT of reflective paper! Lastly, solar cookers are not ideal if you live in a shaded area or one where availability to the sun's light is not there.
Step 4: Design Process and Citations
The design process for this solar cooker was fairly simple. I just got a pizza box and thought I would spray it with black spray paint and tape it shut. At first, I thought I needed to cover the whole thing in the paper, but then realized I didn't.
Citations:
Step 5: Materials, Skills, and Tools
For this solar cooker, you do not need to have advanced skills, as I could even build it!
As you can see, you will need the following materials:
Reflective sticky paper
pizza box
black spray paint
saran wrap
duct tape
The tools you will need are:
box cutter
Scissors
ruler
Step 6: First Step
First, you will need to cut a square hole in the top of the pizza box.
Step 7: Second Step
Next you will need to put the reflective paper on the square you cut out
Step 8: Third Step
Next, spray paint the entire inside of the box black. The only part that won't be black is the square with the reflective paper.
Step 9: Fourth Step
Next, take the duct tape and line it around the edges. Remember, the more air that gets out the more heat your oven will lose!
Step 10: Fifth Step
Now that the heat will not escape, take the ruler and prop up the square that you cut out. The square should be fairly even!
Step 11: Sixth Step
Finally, put the saran wrap around the open part of the box as shown above.
Step 12: Testing Process
To test the solar oven, put it in the sun and make sure that the light reflecting off of the reflective square is aimed at the inside of the box!
Step 13: Conclusion
Overall, this solar oven works really well. Although there are better models, this pizza box one is extremely cost effective and gets the job done. It works, and does it well. One suggestion I would make for future reference is to spray paint the outside of the box black as well, because that would attract the sun. Thank you for your time.