At the India Energy Week held in Bengaluru in early 2023, Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India had said that India intends to revolutionize kitchen with solar cooker. The Prime Minister had said that India had successfully connected more than 19 crore people to clean cooking fuel in less than a decade.
Modi had added that the solar cooker would be significant in giving a new dimension to green and clean cooking in India. Modi further emphasized that more than 3 crore households will have access to solar cooktops in the next two-three years. With over 25 crore people using solar cooktops it would revolutionize kitchen with solar cooker.
What is a solar cooker? Who invented it? How it became popular?
A solar cooker is a vessel that uses direct sunlight to heat and cook liquid and solid food. Swiss physicist and environmentalist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure invented the solar cooker in 1767 A.D. In the twentieth century Barbara Kerr and Sherry Cole developed a simple cardboard solar box cooker and later on with the establishment of Solar Cooker International, using solar cooker gained massive popularity.
How does a solar cooker work?
Solar cooker uses sunlight to warm the vessel used for cooking food. The cooker is turned towards the sun and kept like that until the food gets fully cooked. It converts light energy into heat energy. The solar cooker has a plane mirror reflector which is exposed to sunlight. A strong beam of sunlight enters the box through the glass sheet. The concentrated sunlight gets in contact with the receiver like a cooking pan.
How long does it take for food to be cooked in a solar cooker?
Solar cooker is a sun powered oven and it would take about an hour or may be longer in some cases to heat up the food. It is difficult to burn food in a solar cooker.
What you can cook in solar cooker?
You can cook rice, vegetables, fruits, meat, grains, and many other food items naturally. However, you cannot stir fry or cook flat breads which require high temperature.
Advantages and disadvantages of solar cooker
The primary advantage of cooking in a solar cooker is you save on fuel and gas. It is also very environment-friendly as it reduces the carbon footprint. Also, solar cooker is durable and simple to use.
It is ineffective when there is no sunlight, when the conditions are cloudy and overcast or when it is raining. You need to have alternative cooking styles, for example, normal gas stoves or microwave ovens when such weather conditions persist.
FAQs
1. What are the four basic types of solar cooker?
Panel cooker, Box cooker, Parabolic cooker and Tube cooker
2. Why black colour is used in solar cookers?
Black absorbs heat very well and hence the black colour is used for solar cooker. In order to absorb maximum heat they are in black colour.
3. Which type of mirrors is used in solar cooker?
Concave mirror is used in solar cooker.
4. Why solar cooker is useful?
It helps save fuel like gas and wood and it reduces carbon footprint in a big way.
5. What components are used in solar cooker?
Components such as black box, glass cover, plane mirror reflector, cooking containers are used in manufacture of solar cooker.