Cooking with energy from the sun has been used for ages for sun-dried fruit, vegetables and grains. Modern solar cookers use a specific apparatus to collect and augment the natural energy to approximate the heat generated by conventional cookers.
The originator of solar cooking is considered to be French-Swiss scientist Horace de Saussure, who built several solar boxes in 1767 for cooking fruit.
In the late 1800s, designs were implemented for solar water heaters in California and for cooking meats in restaurants. The popularity of these devices decreased with copper rationing during WWII.
Solar water heaters and cookers gained popularity in the 1950s, especially in sunny areas such as Florida. However, the cost for the materials and availability of government-subsidized energy grants contributed to the decline of improving solar technology.
Solar cookers demonstrate the principles of solar energy and heat transfer to inspire more advanced applications. They can provide a practical option to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and use recycled materials, particularly in sun-exposed areas.
In the 1950s, the United Nations sponsored studies to see whether providing solar cookers to impoverished nations would be helpful. Most of the communities that received solar cookers dismantled them for other uses; however, a village in Mexico was still using the device at least 5 years later.
