And yet, many of these billions of people live near
the equator, where sunshine is abundant and free.
As a University Professor of Physics with a background in
energy usage, I set out to develop a means of cooking food and
sterilizing water using the free energy of the sun. First,
I looked at existing methods.
The parabolic cooker involves a reflective dish that concentrates
sunlight to a point where the food is cooked. This approach
is very dangerous since the sun's energy is focused to a point
which is very hot, but which cannot be seen. (BYU students and
I built one which will set paper on fire in about 3 seconds!)
I learned that an altruistic group had offered reflecting
parabolas to the people living at the Altiplano in Bolivia.
But more than once the parabolas had been stored next to a shed
-- and the passing sun set the sheds on fire! The people did
not want these dangerous, expensive devices, even though the
Altiplano region has been stripped of fuel wood.
The box cooker: Basically an insulated box with a glass or
plastic lid, often with a reflecting lid to reflect sunlight
into the box.
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