Solar cookers made with cork

The Suntaste solar cookers, were chosen in 2017 to equip the homes of the Cabiri Village, in Angola, part of the Solar Villages initiative.

Recurs to the so called "non-imaging optics“, first used in an oven in our later model, the Sun Cook. It works as a greenhouse, capturing the sun's rays through the glass lid. In addition, solar radiation is also reflected by the external flat mirror into the cooking compartment, doubling the input of energy. The rectangular footprint reduces the need for reorientation, when compared with more squared shapes.

Inside the cooking compartment, mirrored walls act as compound-parabolic concentrators (CPC), greatly reducing the need for regular re-orientation. These concentrate all incoming solar radiation to the bottom absorbing plate, which in turn radiates heat allowing for a very homogeneous temperature to be attained. The cooking compartment's insulation and the double glass cover minimize thermal losses and may keep food warm for some hours.

These solar cookers including cork have properties very suitable for solar cookers:

• Excellent thermal insulator (absorbs and retains heat)

• Lightweight (50% of its volume is air)

• Impermeable to liquids and gases

• Elastic and compressible (it adapts to pressure and temperature, and regains its shape even after significant deformations)

• Slow burning (it’s a fire retardant and doesn’t emit toxic gases)

• Anti-static and anti-allergic (prevents the appearance of parasites and bacteria)