Supplies and Equipment

Gathering the supplies and equipment required to build a solar oven is a time-consuming aspect of the whole project. The insulation and aluminum foil tape are items you may not have worked with before. They are found in the insulation section of larger hardware or home supply stores. The cardboard is a common material, but it may take a few weeks to find the boxes of the right size. All the other items are readily available at most hardware or grocery stores.

Supplies

A solar box cooker is constructed mainly of cardboard and aluminum foil. Building a solar box cooker made requires the items on this list:

• Cardboard for reflectors -- heavy-duty two-ply corrugated cardboard, such as two computer monitor boxes, 14 feet by 3 feet total
• Cardboard for inner box -- lid of a standard 10 ream office paper box, 11 1/2” by 18”
• Cardboard for inner box lid -- enough to make a strip 5” wide and 62” long
• Cardboard for outer box -- box approximately 16” by 22” and at least 6” deep
• Heavy-duty aluminum foil, one 75 square feet roll
• Plate glass, 12 ” by 18 1/2”
• Foil-backed foam board insulation, about 1/2” inch thick, sold in 4’ by 8’ sheets. (The whole 4’ by 8’ sheet is not used for one cooker. You may be able to find discarded scraps of insulation to use for the project.)
• Aluminum foil tape, available where insulation is sold -- 2” by 50 yard roll
• 6’ roll of 1/2” wide adhesive-backed foam weatherstripping
• One quart white glue, such as Elmer’s

Equipment

These tools will not be used up in the process of making the solar cooker, and can be reused.

• Box knife and sharp blades
• Measuring tape or yardstick
• T-square and protractor
• Marking pen
• Brushes and rollers to spread glue
• Containers to hold glue and water mixture, such as empty cans or wide-mouth jars

The following items are needed to use the solar oven once it is complete:

• Sunglasses -- one pair for everyone looking at the solar box cooker while it is in the full sun
• Oven mitts
• Leather gloves
• Oven thermometer to measure temperature of oven
• Candy or meat thermometer to measure temperature of food
• Two ten-inch bungee cords
• Clothespins and heavy string
• Three bricks

Specifications for Pans Used

A black cookie sheet remains in the bottom of the oven at all times. The dark surface absorbs the heat from the sun; the cookie sheet is a crucial factor in the oven’s heat gain. Make sure the cookie sheet you select for the project is black and that it fits inside the lid of the office paper box lid.

Cookies and flat items are cooked directly on the cookie sheet. Rice and casseroles are cooked in pots or pans placed on top of the cookie sheet. The pots and pans must be less that 4” deep in order to fit in the shallow oven. In general, dark pans with clear lids work best. The following pans are useful:

• Black cookie sheet, 17” by 11”
• Black skillet with clear lid
• Clear oven dish, 9” by 6” rectangular, with small oven cooking bags