Safe meals. Clear air.
Brighter futures.
All powered by the sun.
Around the world, women and girls are cooking safe meals without smoke,
danger, or expense — thanks to solar cooking. Together with collaborators,
SCI brings clean, sun-powered cookers that save money, protect health, and
preserve the environment for a more sustainable future.
Photo credit: UN CTCN Photographer: Miranda Rikki Tasker
Every year,
3.2 million people
— including
237,000 children —
lose their lives to
toxic smoke from
cooking fires.
BREAKING THE CYCLE
1 IN 4 PEOPLE STILL
COOK OVER OPEN FIRES
Every year,
3.2 million people
— including
237,000 children —
lose their lives to
toxic smoke from
cooking fires.
BREAKING THE CYCLE
Every day, 2.1 billion people cook over open fires. The smoke fills their lungs, stealing years of life. Women and children walk miles for firewood, facing the constant threat of violence. Forests are stripped bare and fragile ecosystems collapse, all for the daily need for fuel. Your support helps break this cycle.
With solar cookers, families can cook safely—breathe clean air, reclaim their time, and keep forests standing for generations to come.
OUR PURPOSE
Photo Credit: poco_bw, Adobe Stock
As the world’s leading advocate and resource for solar cooking since 1987, SCI works alongside communities, collaborators, and supporters to replace harmful cooking fuels with clean, renewable energy. Through research, advocacy, and capacity building, we promote energy justice, reduce carbon emissions, and give families the dignity of safe, sustainable cooking.
Photo Credit: poco_bw, Adobe Stock
Photo Credit: Keith Wingeard
COOKING WITH SUNLIGHT
A SOLUTION THAT CHANGES LIVES
Photo Credit: Keith Wingeard
COOKING WITH SUNLIGHT
Imagine a kitchen without smoke, a forest left standing, and a mother who doesn’t have to risk her safety gathering wood. Solar cooking makes this possible — turning sunlight into nourishing meals. It frees families from harmful fuels, restores precious ecosystems, and gives communities the chance to thrive in health and harmony with the planet.
4.8 million+ solar cookers and counting…
Each solar cooker in use means cleaner air to breathe, safer kitchens, and healthier lives — while forests and ecosystems are given a chance to recover.
BE PART OF THE CHANGE.
Get inspiring stories, program updates, and ways you can help bring
solar cooking to more communities worldwide — straight to your inbox.
Photo credit: UN CTCN Photographer: Miranda Rikki Tasker
“I DON’T WANT TO COOK IN SMOKE,
AND GETTING FIREWOOD IS HARD.”
From saving time and protecting health to preserving forests and empowering women,
participants and collaborators share why solar cooking matters.
“Solar cooking has several advantages. We are going to reduce the cutting down of trees for firewood. We are going to reduce the number of respiratory diseases…”
ROSEMARY ATIENO
“Clean cooking is a gender issue because it disproportionately affects one gender more than the other… While the mother is cooking, the children are always sitting around where the mother is. So that inhalation of the smoke doesn’t just affect the mother sitting there but also affects the children around her.”
GRACE DORONG
“Solar cooking helps preserve our forests and wetlands by reducing the demand for firewood and charcoal — contributing to environmental conservation and climate resilience.”
SHEDIKE V. KAMARA
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