Solar Mirror Cooker! - The "7 Mirror" Parabolic Solar Cooker! w/insulated cooking jar! (200F) Ez DIY

video shows how to make a 7-Panel Mirrorized Solar Cooker with insulated (can-in-glass) cooking container. heats food and water fast. temperature tests and build footage included in video. all made from scrap materials i had around the house (one exception: i bought the brackets). total cost to make it... about $4. *my last video was a similar cooker made with only four panels. this new one is closer to a "true" parabolic... and therefore heats up faster and hotter. *both units are very compact, taking up only about one square foot of space. all tests done in early november (in air temps from 46F to 70F) light breeze and some thin clouds. temps topped out around 200F. the efficiency of the unit is very high (for its size) due to the fact that it's built with real glass mirrors (scraps) and uses a metal & glass (pot-in-pot) cooking container to capture and hold the heat. *container is made using 2 recycled food containers. great little project. and when you're done it packs up neat. as an extra (and convenient) feature i also show how to make a spinning platform for it.... makes it super easy to keep it precisely aligned with the sun. Couple of notes: drawing out a parabolic curve onto a piece of cardboard is not necessary. i did it so i could maximize the cookers potential (just eye-balling the curve and focal point (when setting up the unit) is all that's really needed). highest
container temp recorded was 200F. highest water temp recorded was 188F. However 2 different times i could have sworn i saw it boiling. i'd remove the lid and see the water at what looked like a rolling boil but within 2 seconds the water stopped boiling.... so i'd drop in the thermometer but the water only read about 188F. *since i've never heard of water boiling at 188F who knows. maybe it has something to due with pressure in the jar when it's sealed closed? or maybe the cool thermometer drops the water temp slightly?

[@maderightamerica3216]

One thing I really like about the thngs you make is you keep it simple so even a novice can make the stuff you design. I'm going to make this one. I have a 3D printer so I will make my backing all plastic. Thanks for the lesson.

[@desertsun02]

hi and you're welcome. yep, i always try to keep it simple (with commonly available items) so people can actually make the stuff.✔🙂

[@barrun2654]

A

[@sherrie9241]

Your videos are so simple anyone can make these ideas, can you please remake a video showing a large outdoor earth battery and how to use it, giving examples? thank you..

[@321ozzy]

Couple of years ago I was working on similar designs, though the materials used were mylar and cardboard, plus a bottle painted black. Great job of yours :-)

[@mamtabiswas1825]

Concave mirror solar cookers really help to concentrate that heat!

[@baranjan4172]

The mirrors should take the shape of a parabola. When you look straight into the cooker, you should see the pot in all mirrors. That'd get max efficiency out of the cooker. The bottom shouldn't be glass. It can crack under high heat. Other than that it's a very good design. The larger the cooker, the more heat it generates. Easily the most efficient design for everyday cooking.

[@desertsun02]

hi. i'm glad you like the design. very easy to make 🙂

[@mostlybikes]

I especially like your food container! What kind of food- and heat safe glue did you use? My only concern with using a tin is the plastic laminate on the inside which is not meant to be heated up, and thus could break down and release in your food.

[@desertsun02]

hi and thanks. i used 100% silicone caulk. that is considered to be 100% food safe. it handles very high heat 400F+. good news: a couple of years ago i really wanted to know the answer to "the lining" question myself (so i spent several hours reading many articles and they all essentially said the same thing). they said that it's perfectly safe to cook in tin or metal cans with linings (with only one exception). the exception is that you can't "fry" food directly in a metal can *if the metal can is being heated over a fire. that's the only situation that researchers found to be a problem for the lining. but all other ways of cooking (like boiling, roasting, baking etc.) worked fine. another interesting thing is that a lot of the metal cans that are sold are unlined - they sell both kinds. it mainly depends on what is being stored in it. if you search for 'unlined metal cans' you'll see a lot of them.

[@melodydavis2753]

Super! Thanks.

[@GEAUXFRUGAL]

Make this larger and it can be perfect for heating a cam good.

[@bryanst.martin7134]

You need lots more strips. Much of the energy is reflected away from the core. What about thermal energy values? Have you come up with any caloric numbers? IE it takes 1 cal to heat 1L of H2O 1deg C. You have obviously spent a lot of time on this energy source. I commend you. But by now you must have some useful data? How much water can I heat for my family with X area of mirrors? Would it be supplemental to the electric/gas heater? Or be primary through the day? Interesting work amigo.

[@MyraD-xh6dk]

How did you determine the focal point?

[@desertsun02]

hi. mainly by visual inspection (you place the container where the sun shines the brightest off of the sides of the container)

[@SolarCookingGermany]

@@desertsun02 You can also use a laser pointer for testing