Association pour le Déveleppement de l'Energie Solaire Suisse - Madagascar
Lanzenstrasse 18, CH-8913 Ottenbach, +41 44 761 20 61, www.adesolaire.org
The box solar cooker consists of a well insulated box with a reflector and a glass lid.
The sunlight is absorbed by the black bottom and the black walls (made from used offset plates) of the box, and also by the dark cooking pots, and it is then transformed into heat. Temperatures inside the box can go up to 150°C, which makes the box solar cooker an ideal device for cooking, baking, and drying fruit and also for the sterilisation of water and medical instruments.
ADES produces extra large box solar cookers for schools or for cooking demonstrations.
The parabolic solar cooker consists of a parabolic mirror, into whose focal point the cookware has to be placed.
The parabolic mirror bundles the incident rays of sunlight and generates temperatures in its focal point which are high enough for cooking, baking, frying and deep frying. Of course the parabolic solar cooker can also be used for boiling water and sterilising medical instruments.
As the temperature in the focal point is higher than in the box solar cooker, the cooking process is faster.
The parabolic mirror is made of weatherproof high gloss polished aluminium and the frame is made of galvanized steel. All materials are imported from Europe and the cookers are assembled in Madagascar.
The desiccating solar cooker consists of a frame with a piece of corrugated iron at the bottom and a grid in the upper part.
The corrugated iron absorbs the heat of the sun, and will heat up the air entering at the bottom to a maximum temperature of 60°C; it will then rise and desiccate the fruit, herbs or vegetables spread on the grid.
ADES pursues other alternatives als well. Another effective way of reducing the use of wood are the energy-saving cookers OLI-b and OLI-c, which have been developed and are produced in Madagascar. For details see here.