Publications
And resources
Advancing solar cooking through research, data, and practical tools.
Photo Credit: Anonymous
Publications
And resources
Advancing solar cooking through research, data, and practical tools.
Explore SCI’s collection of reports, surveys, best-practice guides, and research publications designed to support evidence-based solar cooking initiatives around the world.
Solar Cooking Economic Impact Summaries
With approximately 2 billion people cooking over open fires, there is tremendous potential for countries to save money by avoiding the environmental and health costs associated with biomass cooking. Learn what the economic impacts of solar cooking are on many countries around the world.
Photo Credit: Nahda Makers Organization
Publications
Impacts From Best Practices Applied in a Solar Cooking Initiative at Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya
Best practices applied to a multi-year solar cooking initiative at Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya are demonstrating beneficial impacts. This initiative’s best practices have included collaborating with a trusted local implementing organization, local manufacturing of solar cookers using locally available material, testing solar cookers according to methods developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), selecting participants according to a needs assessment, involving women solar cooking champions that speak local languages during training and follow-up activities, and acquiring evidence-based results. Through this initiative, locally constructed solar ovens empower refugees to lead healthier, safer lives.
Testing Solar Cookers for Cooking Efficiency
Read the latest research on solar thermal cooker performance published in Solar Energy Advances, an official journal of the International Solar Energy Society®. Supported by the Northstar Sustainability Fund, the paper is authored by SCI staff members — Program and Science Director Alan W. Bigelow, Ph.D., Research Specialist Justin Tabatchnick, and Executive Director Caitlyn Hughes — and contributes valuable insights into measuring the cooking efficiency for solar thermal cookers, which complements and enhances SCI’s existing performance evaluation process (PEP).
Development and Implementation of a Performance Evaluation Process (PEP) for Solar Thermal Cooking Devices
Solar Cookers International staff designed and built portable test stations for a performance evaluation process (PEP) for solar thermal cookers in response to a specific need expressed by the solar cooking sector that an independent, neutral agency develop a testing process for solar thermal cooking devices. The PEP test stations are based on commercially available components, including thermocouples, an anemometer, a pyranometer and Arduino hardware.
The test station control software was designed to automate the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASAE) S580.1 protocol for Testing and Reporting Solar Cooker Performance; it measures temperature changes in an amount of water proportional to the intercept area of a solar cooker, while monitoring wind speed and solar insolation, for normalizing results.
Program and Evaluation
SCI developed two surveys as part of its recommended best practices for conducting solar cooking projects. These surveys are designed for collecting consistent and impactful data and for contributing to evidence-based results for solar cooking. The goals of these surveys are to help everyone create and implement more successful solar cooking initiatives.
These two surveys have questions that should be asked at three different moments in time: before the project starts; before cooks start solar cooking; and after solar cooks have been solar cooking for at least 6 months.
This survey is intended for gathering data to assess community and individual needs and expressed desire for solar cooking. This survey is based on a survey by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and should be conducted before the start of a project to help identify and select communities and households for solar cooking.
SCI Adoption and Impact Survey
This survey is intended for gathering 1) baseline data and 2) post-distribution data, to build an evidence base from solar cooking projects. This survey was created by a working group established at the 5th SCI World Conference in 2014. The group was led by SCI and included many global solar cooking experts who met regularly for more than a year to create and refine this survey.
This survey has two parts and is intended for collecting before-and-after data for measuring the impact of solar cooker usage:
- Baseline questions are to be asked at the beginning of the project before solar cookers are being used.
- Post-distribution questions are to be asked after cooks have at least 6 months of experience solar cooking.
We offer this survey in two different formats (PDF or Google Forms) for your convenience.
Google Forms format
Baseline Questions
Post-Distribution Questions
Additional Notes
SCI recommends follow-up and training – as needed and in addition to conducting these surveys. This helps the new solar cooks feel more comfortable and confident solar cooking before the post-distribution questions are asked.
All required questions from these surveys should be asked/answered and the questions should be kept as they are, and not modified, aside from being translated into local languages. Maintaining consistent questions and answer format among projects helps when combining evidence-based results from several projects to calculate the global impact of solar cooking (such as here). This helps track progress and garner support for the whole solar cooking sector.
Best practice guides
Best practices in solar cooking project design – find more information on our Wiki page.
SCI Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Report
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are country-specific commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that outline targets, policies, and measures for reducing national emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change. They also provide details on the financial, technological, and capacity-building support required or offered to implement these actions.
SCI analyzes NDCs to identify support for solar cooking. Of the 196 NDCs, 77 parties acknowledge the cooking sector as an area of concern or potential development, 53 parties include language that may be favorable to solar cooking interventions, and 5 parties specifically identify solar cooking as a clean cooking solution. These policies often emphasize rural development, gender equity, and health, laying out the foundation for no-emission solutions that enhance climate resilience.
Photo Credit: Nahda Makers Organization