Simple oven uses the energy of the sun to cook food

Category: (Self-Study) Technology/Innovations

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A solar-powered oven is giving people in Kenya a cheap, healthy way to cook food. The simple contraption is an alternative to firewood and charcoal which are linked to harmful gases.

The box is set up outside, food is placed inside, and the lid is closed. The sun’s rays are reflected into the cavity, heating it up and cooking the meal.

“I used to use firewood for a longer time. I also realized that firewood gives us some problems, like lung problems. When there is a lot of smoke, it interferes with the lungs, therefore the breathing system becomes in very big problem and cannot be treated,” says Benta Achieng who likes this way of cooking because it’s healthier than traditional methods.

Achieng switched to the solar-powered oven two years ago. And she’s not the only one.

For street food vendor Ian Duncun Onyango, it’s part of his business. He cooks up boiled eggs and smokies (smoked sausages) for passersby in Nairobi. It saves him money and boosts his profits.

“The solar cooker is aiding me a lot since previously I was using the ‘jiko’ and the charcoal to boil my eggs and these days I am using it and it is from the power of the sun. I am boiling my eggs. I am saving the fuel and I’m saving some money to boost my stock and business. And I am also having customers from all over town. They are flocking here, they are saying my eggs are sweeter compared to how they were those days,” he says.

The local solar-powered oven was developed by entrepreneur Carolyn Olang. She saw an opportunity in the market for such an invention.

“The solar oven is an alternative use. We want to get people to stop using fossil fuel and that is why we have decided to use renewable energy, hence the solar-powered oven which is just a box and you use the sun to cook your food,” says Olang.

This article and video were provided by The Associated Press.