MAP OF SOLAR COOKERS
The global solar cooking footprint.
Photo Credit: UN CTCN Photographer: Miranda Rikki Tasker
MAP OF SOLAR COOKERS
The global solar cooking footprint.
Every solar cooker placed in the hands of a family represents more than just a meal cooked without fuel. It means cleaner air, lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduced health risks, and stronger communities.
Today, more than 4 million solar cookers are being used around the globe, and that number is growing fast.
Here’s what that means for our world:
- 14.3 million people directly impacted by solar cooking.
- Over 5.8 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions prevented every single year—the same as taking 1.25 million cars off the road.
- Over 5.8 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions prevented every single year—the same as taking 1.25 million cars off the road.
- More than 30 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions avoided over the lifetime of these cookers.
- That’s like skipping 76 billion miles of driving or not burning 34 billion pounds of coal.
Countries could save millions, even billions of dollars annually in health and environmental costs by integrating solar cooking in their cooking practices.
- If just 25% of polluting-fuel cooking was replaced with solar, the global savings would top $1 trillion every year.
Every solar cooker tells a story of cleaner air, restored forests, and families freed from smoke and danger. Together, these stories form a global movement that’s transforming lives and protecting the planet.
Every solar cooker placed in the hands of a family represents more than just a meal cooked without fuel. It means healthier homes, safer communities, and a future powered by the sun.
Today, an estimated 4.8+ million solar cookers have been identified worldwide, and that number continues to grow. Together, they mean an estimated:
- 21.7 million people are directly impacted by solar cooking, approximately the population of Malawi, Sri Lanka, or Florida (U.S.).
- If all cookers were in use at once, they could prevent 7.2 million metric tons of CO₂e annually, equal to taking more than 1.5 million cars off the road.
- Countries can save millions and even billions of dollars every year through avoided health and environmental costs.
Explore the global solar cooking map
Hover over the map below to see where solar cookers are making a difference: from rural villages to urban neighborhoods.
Help us build the world’s most comprehensive solar cooking database
Solar Cookers International (SCI), as leader and convener of the global solar cooking sector, gathers and analyzes solar cooking data. SCI delivers this evidence base to policy makers and the public to demonstrate just how significant solar cooking can be.
Your contributions strengthen this map
Is your data missing?
It only takes 20 minutes.
How to add your solar cooker data:
- Identify the quantity, type, and approximate location of all known solar cookers you have distributed that are not already included on the map.
- Include solar cookers made, sold, subsidized, and/or distributed free of cost.
- Number of solar cookers distributed since January 1, 1990.
- Submit updates at least once a year to improve the global evidence base for solar cooking.
Your data helps give global leaders the evidence they need to promote solar cooking at the household, community, and national level.
A note on the map’s data
The information displayed on the map comes from multiple sources, including published reports, SCI Wiki pages, SCI store records, event data, submission forms, and self-reported contributions from individuals and organizations.
When specific distribution locations are unavailable, the origin of the solar cookers is shown instead. While some data is verified, Solar Cookers International does not have the capacity to independently verify all entries.
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