Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

lunatica

(53,410 posts)
Fri Mar 29, 2013, 10:24 AM Mar 2013

Sun Ovens can help people in poverty and save ecosystems

I hope it's OK to post things that are about being hopeful about saving our planet and using natural energy

SUN OVENS International has been innovative in developing methods of placement, training, and marketing to assist in the positioning of over 34,000 family sized GLOBAL SUN OVENS the U.S. and more than 100 developing countries, and 250 large VILLAGER SUN OVENS in deforested developing countries.

Creating Self-Sustaining, Self-Propagating Micro-Enterprise
The purpose of these programs is to alleviate poverty and enhance the quality of life throughout selected developing-world countries by empowering the hard working poor to raise their standard of living through self-sustaining micro-enterprise called Sun-Bakeries.

Local Assembly Plants

Entrepreneurs, Relief and Missions Organizations can now assemble ‘Sun Overs’ on location – dramatically reducing the cost, creating local jobs, while getting ovens into the hands of the people who need them most.

http://www.sunoven.com/around-the-world

examples:

The GLOBAL SUN OVEN® has been devised to meet up to 70% of the needs of a family of 6 to 8 people in a developing country, entirely with the power of the sun. Even though it is called an oven, food can be boiled, steamed, roasted or baked at cooking temperatures of 360° F / 182° C, making it ideal for cooking the majority of foods in the developing world. This ruggedly built solar appliance weighs only 21 pounds / 9.5 kg and will last more than 20 years.


The VILLAGER SUN OVEN® is designed for large-scale feeding situations that require cooking great volumes of food quickly. Even though it is called an oven, enormous quantities of food can be boiled, steamed or baked at cooking temperatures of 500° F / 260° C with no fuel costs.

10 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
1. I own two of these, they're great.
Fri Mar 29, 2013, 10:40 AM
Mar 2013

Durable and efficient, but even less fancy ones will reach $350 and bake cookies.

K/R

lunatica

(53,410 posts)
2. I was reading the testimonials and customers seem quite pleased with them
Fri Mar 29, 2013, 10:45 AM
Mar 2013

Did you mean to say 350 degrees?

How long does it take to cook? The same as it would with a stove and oven? I suppose they don't work too well on cloudy days, or do they take the little light available and magnify it?

 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
3. LOL. Yes, degrees, not dollars. They can be had, IIRC, for just under $200 to a non-profit group.
Fri Mar 29, 2013, 10:53 AM
Mar 2013

They work well with something like a pork loin and veggies, not good for tri-tip because it cooks more like an oven or a crock pot, it is not a dry heat.

It can get up to temp in short order, like 15-20 minutes, and it will take longer to cook most goods because it won't reach 400 degrees, in my experience.

But even the humble Sunspot cardboard oven will bake a batch of cookies in 30 minutes and reach 350 degrees:



I've got a bunch of these, too!

lunatica

(53,410 posts)
4. Is the Sun Spot solar oven durable
Fri Mar 29, 2013, 11:15 AM
Mar 2013

It would be a good way to try it out and see if a more expensive one will be a good investment. I would love to find alternatives to using gas and electricity.

 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
8. The sunspot is of limited capacity, dimensionally, and....
Fri Mar 29, 2013, 12:39 PM
Mar 2013

It also needs to be aimed at the sun, which means to do cookies you need to use muffin trays or else everything would slide to the bottom of the thing.

Alternatively, the global sun oven (which also needs to be aimed) has a much larger interior and a cooking tray that hangs from a pivot, so is always horizontal.

If you're looking to cook meals, you won't be happy with the Sunspot and it will be worth getting the global sunoven.

The tub is a thick and durable plastic, the glass is tempered and heat-resistant, and the reflective surfaces are aluminum, I believe.

On eBay, they're as low as $177.00 You can collect the ideal black enamel or cast iron cookware at yard sales or second hand stores.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SOLAR-OVEN-SUN-COOKER-STOVE-OVENS-PORTABLE-/310640648824?pt=Barbecues_Grills_Smokers&hash=item4853a02278

OneGrassRoot

(22,917 posts)
5. Of course! Please read, especially if you have a desire for organization...lol
Fri Mar 29, 2013, 11:15 AM
Mar 2013

Yes, this is precisely the kind of thing I want to share; not just human interpersonal stories, but stories of how we humans are finding ways to DO GOOD by the environment, other creatures, etc!



I'm honestly not trying to push this, but if anyone else gets frustrated because they find good news and have no way of organizing it and referring back to it (a message board is a difficult platform to do so, as is FB, Google+, etc., etc), I want to offer the tools at both Wishadoo and Our Collective Good.

For example, I use Wishadoo!'s video library as a repository of videos I love and want to refer to from time to time that are inspiring or educational in some way. Others can join and use it, too, and share good videos with others who go there.

For now, I'm using the Our Collective Good platform as a way to organize the various good news articles and stories and tidbits I stumble upon, so I can categorize them and find them later and share them elsewhere more easily. I originally envisioned more of a grassroots HuffPo with people sharing local "good," and maybe I can get others to contribute toward that eventually, but for now it's basically a magazine format.

I need to get more organized (egads, to have more time, energy and resources) and share more of these wonderful things at OCG and do daily and/or weekly "best of" posts and compilations.

Oh, and I also have this directory site I want to develop to include categories of GOOD (I could add many categories to what is there) that can be a go-to resource for good stuff.

Anyway, if you guys have suggestions of how these spaces can be of more use to you regarding aggregating all this GOOD STUFF, just holla.


lunatica

(53,410 posts)
6. Thanks! I want a place where we can bring our natural optimistic and hopeful outlook
Fri Mar 29, 2013, 11:24 AM
Mar 2013

where others will become infected with it. It can be so easy to get depressed with endless bad news threads. I've always been one who naturally thinks about the future potential of innovations and the endless fields of possibilities ahead of us. When people put their brains to a task by intending to solve a present problem it can be done.

We seem to be losing our can do mentality, at least on a political level. Yet some of the greatest feats of engineering, like the Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge, our (now taken for granted) interstate highway system and our Space Program all wouldn't have been possible without our government.

OneGrassRoot

(22,917 posts)
7. Yes, yes, yes, YES!!!!
Fri Mar 29, 2013, 11:47 AM
Mar 2013

"I've always been one who naturally thinks about the future potential of innovations and the endless fields of possibilities ahead of us."





If you want to suggest ways (or be more directly involved) to use the links I provided above to help ORGANIZE GOOD...lol...so people (beyond DUers, that is) can find them and use them as intended -- and as you so eloquently express -- I would LOVE THAT.

Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»Good News»Sun Ovens can help people...