ANGELA DAY TESTS ... THE SUN RAY COOKER

WHY buy a Sun Ray Cooker? It’s ideal to use in a country like ours where we have 10 hours of sunshine in summer, says Sun Ray Cooker’s founder Herman Warren, who gave me one to try out. “It’s safe, very economical and eco-Friendly,” he said.

You can take it into the garden and while you either lounge beside the pool or work on your flower beds you can keep an eye on the food without being tied to a hot stove indoors. It only weighs 3kg so is also ideal for taking to a picnic or on a camping trip.

I tried it out to make a beef curry. I browned the meat on the stove before putting the curry in the solar cooker. It took 2-3 hours to make the meat meltingly tender and the potatoes and carrots were soft but firm and did not go mushy as would have been the case on the stove top. There is no evaporation of liquid so you end up with lots of

delicious gravy.

I was surprised to find I needed oven gloves to remove the saucepan, it was that hot. The cooker reaches a temperature of 150°C, according to Warren, which is high enough to kill any pathogens and put any of my contamination fears to rest.

If you bake in the oven then you need to pre-heat the cooker by placing it in the sun for about an hour. There is also a Solar cooker plate which you preheat in the cooker which speeds up baking and cooking.

You have to use black saucepans to cook in or wrap the pots you have in the black foil that comes with the cooker. The black absorbs the sun’s ray, thus facilitating the cooking process. Fish, steaks or chops take 45 minutes to cook, while a loaf of bread takes about 2 hours. You can even make meringues – about 2 hours. The most important factor when using the solar cooker is to keep it in the right direction tracking the sun. Ideal for those wanting to save on electricity, it costs R899 for the cooker with the foil and the plate.

l For more info and lots of recipes, see www.sunraycooker.co.za or call Herman Warren at 011 484 6089.

Blackouts and high tariffs SA’s new reality, so plan for them

by Herman Warren

In Africa, resilience and ingenuity come as standard. Africans meet setbacks by making a plan and bouncing back. The need for Afro-adaptability is currently showcased by power blackouts and rising electricity costs.

Eskom makes no secret of continuing challenges. Senior executives forecast “tight” supplies for 2011 and 2012 until new capacity can be tapped. The Medupi and Kusile coal-fired power stations, each generating 4 800 megawatts (MW), won’t come on stream until 2012 and 2014 respectively.

Supply pressures could re-emerge in 2017 as a result of rising demand. Eskom projects average annualised demand growth of 3% over 20 years, doubling present demand levels of around 37 000MW by 2030.

Demand is only one problem. Local outages can be caused by faults, maintenance problems and cable thieves. South Africa’s power lines cover 300 000km, so there’s always a risk of local failure.

Prudent families will therefore plan for sporadic outages for some time to come.

The search for alternative solutions is not unusual in Africa. Nigerians reportedly spend 9% of GDP on private power generation, with about half the population dependent on generators.

South Africa’s response has been to launch a new build programme while encouraging consumers to reduce demand. By 2012, Eskom hopes to cut demand by 3 000MW, with a further 5 000MW reduction by 2025.

Government is also considering a rationing scheme to reward and penalise customers according to energy usage.

Fortunately, Africa has an alternative power source – the sun.

At a strategic level, solar power has a key place in South Africa’s future energy mix, but solar power can also be harnessed by families who can combat rising electricity tariffs and save energy by looking to the sun.

Solar cooking is one option, a significant one.

Eskom says the average household consumes 1100kWh of electricity a month. About 8% of that is used for cooking.

Solar cooking can therefore reduce energy use and power bills by about a twelfth. Electricity bills rose in 2010 by nearly 30%, with more hikes to come. This saving will therefore increase in significance.

A solar cooker is affordable and easy to use. Numerous meals can be cooked, including desserts and bread. In South Africa, solar cooking is a year-round solution. Even in August, we average 6.4 hours of sunshine a day, rising to 11.1 hours in December.

Smart South Africans facing new power realities will doubtless integrate various solutions into a holistic strategy to save energy and money. Solar cooking will feature strongly in these plans.

Supply concerns and rising tariffs are not going to go away … thankfully, nor is the sun.

§  Herman Warren is chief executive of Sun Ray Cooker, manufacturers of a South Africa-made solar cooker that has become a household accessory for those seeking energy and cost savings at a time of uncertain power supply.

Sunny skies and cooking pots

Solar power holds much potential for Africa, where as many as 5m hectares of tropical forests are destroyed each year, mostly for firewood. So when Herman Warren saw a solar cooker designed in the US , he secured the rights to produce it in SA.

“In many parts of rural SA, households use wood as their main fuel source for cooking and heating,” says Warren. “And except for a very few who buy wood or who own a bakkie, most wood is carried by women and children on their heads.”

He says apart from destroying sensitive ecosystems, acquiring this type of fuel is time-consuming, cumbersome and unreliable in the rainy season. It also results in indoor air pollution, which can cause health problems.

“Since women and children are mostly responsible for the collection and transport of firewood, wood collection also prevents them from participating in other development activities.”

Yet SA has some of the highest levels of solar radiation in the world. Daily solar radiation averages 4,5kWh/m² compared to about 3,6kWh/m² in parts of the US and about 2,5kWh/m² in Europe and the UK. During October and November, SA gets about nine hours of sunlight a day.

“Harnessing the sun’s energy for solar cooking and heating in rural households not only has conservation benefits, but social benefits too,” Warren says.

The Sun Ray cooker is constructed mostly from recycled materials, such as plastic, and uses technology that focuses the sun’s rays onto pots which are placed inside the solar box.

The cooker works on the same principle as a greenhouse, allowing solar radiation in through the clear cover and trapping the thermal radiation inside. The result is a gradual rise in temperature. Regardless of the temperature outside, the solar cooker will heat food to a uniform temperature that is sufficient for cooking. The effect is amplified by the black base of the cooker and Warren recommends using black pots to increase the heat . With temperatures reaching up to 150°C , the cooker can work in the same way as a stove or oven, though it can take twice as long.

“A family could put the food on to cook while they undertake other household chores,” he says.

Weighing just 3,3kg, it can accommodate enough pots to feed four to six people at a time.

Because the Sun Ray cooker heats up to temperatures well above the 65°C needed to kill pathogens, there’s no risk of food contamination with the longer cooking times.

But at R850, the solar cookers are likely to be out of reach for most rural inhabitants.

“Studies conducted in Limpopo have shown that more than 75% of people living in rural areas would be willing to pay more than R40/month for solar energy, while 34% could pay even more than R80/month. We are looking to partner a development institution to see if the cookers could be subsidised or if a repayment plan could be arranged to make them affordable over time,” says Warren.

The company manufactures the cookers in a factory in Gauteng, with the capacity to ramp up production to more than 1000 cookers a month. It currently sells them online and in camping stores.

“The solar cooker also appeals to wealthier, eco-aware, bush-loving customers who enjoy hassle-free cooking while they’re out on safari,” says Warren.

Solar Box Cooker

Solar cooking is interesting to many people because it not only saves money, but is also environmentally friendly. Building a solar cooker is not as complicated as it may seem, especially if you follow the instructions in this solar how to. There are many types of solar cookers, and the most simple to construct is the solar box cooker.

A solar cooker requires very little monetary investment and could be built in just one afternoon. The basic materials required for a solar box cooker are two cardboard boxes, one sheet of cardboard, a small roll of aluminum foil, a bottle of white glue, one can of flat-black spray paint, a piece of stiff wire and a clear plastic cooking bag. (A thin sheet of glass could be used instead.)

To construct the solar box cooker, the directions are as follows:

1. Fold the lids of the box that will be used for the bottom so they are closed. Place the second box on top of the closed lid, and trace around the second box. Each of the cardboard boxes should be at least 15 inches by 15 inches. The second box should be slightly smaller than the first box, which will be used for the base.

2. Decide how deep the cooker should be. A good way to measure is to use a pan or kettle as a guide. Mark the inner box with the depth of the pan or kettle. Use a sharp knife or box cutter to make slices down the sides of the inner box. Fold each side of the box down at the slits, creating extended flaps.

3. Glue aluminum foil to the inside of both boxes and their flaps.

4. To keep the inner box from moving, crumple newspaper and place it inside the outer box. The inside box should now fit snuggly into the outer box. Fold the flaps of the inner box over the outside of the outer box. Next glue them onto the outside of the outer box.

5. A base pan must be constructed for the bottom of the inside box. Cut a piece of cardboard the size of the bottom of the inside box and spray paint it black. Allow the cardboard to dry. Then glue this piece to the bottom of the inside box. This is the base the pans will rest on when cooking.

6. A cover must be made for the cooker. Cover the cooker with a piece of corrugated cardboard. Use your box cutter to make slits along the side of the cardboard so flaps can be made. Fold these flaps inside to create the lid. Glue the flaps in place if necessary.

7. Slice the inside of the lid along three of the edges of the cooker. This will create a flap that should be the size of the inside of the cooker. Glue aluminum foil to the inside of this flap. Be sure to leave one side of this flap secure to the cover.

8. Slice the plastic oven bags open. This will prevent condensation from forming inside the bags. Glue the bags to the underside of the newly constructed lid. The lid should now have plastic covering the hole where the flap was made.

9. To prop the aluminum foil covered flap open, insert a piece of stiff wire (a portion of a wire hanger works best) into one side of the corrugated lid. This cover can now be removed and replaced each time the cooker is used. It will both insulate the food being cooked and create an additional reflective surface to trap the suns energy.

The solar cooker is the simplest solar cooker to construct. It can be placed anywhere that receives direct sunlight. The solar box cooker is ideal for homeowners, renters or campers because it requires no electricity and is portable. solar box cookers are also efficient ways to cook food while using the most abundant natural resource: solar energy.

Video instructions for your next solar project. Solar How To. information is free and available to you.

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The Whys and Hows of Solar Cooking Part I

Solar funnel cookers are the least expensive and easiest solar cooker to construct. Solar funnel cookers are portable, making them ideal for campers, including RV owners and backpackers. Even kids can help with the construction of solar funnel cookers. It is the ideal do-it-yourself solar project, melding both cost-efficiency and environmentally friendly energy use.

The first step in constructing a solar funnel cooker is to cut a half circle along the bottom of the cardboard sheet. This circle should have a radius that is equal to half the diameter of the container used for cooking. If a standard mason jar is used, the half circle's radius would be approximately five inches.

The half circle that was cut into the bottom of the cardboard sheet will be used to make the funnel. Slowly bend the two sides of the cardboard together around the half circle. A funnel shape should form. Allow the cardboard to crease as this will give guidelines for the funnel once the aluminum foil is attached.

Next, lay the cardboard sheet back down onto the floor or work surface. Using the spray adhesive or white glue (mixed with equal parts water), adhere the aluminum foil to what will be the inside of the funnel. Be sure the foil is shiny side up and no bubbles or breaks occur.

Once the aluminum foil has adhered to the cardboard, bring the funnel together again. Use the metal brads to attach the two sides together. Space the brads evenly down the edge where the two sides meet and lock into place. Glue a section of aluminum foil over the brads on the back of the cooker, shiny side down, to ensure heat retention. The funnel of the cooker is now assembled.

Spray with black paint a square of wood approximately two inches wide by four inches long and two inches deep. Place this block in the bottom of an oven bag. Set the Mason jar (with the food or water contents inside) on top of the wood, inside the bag. Blow air into the bag to inflate it. Tie the bag off at the top. This creates a greenhouse effect inside the bag.

Lastly, place the bag inside the funnel of the solar cooker. Be sure the apparatus is facing the sun. The solar funnel cooker can be placed in a cardboard box or a hole dug into the ground for stability.

Solar cooked foods will not burn, as the heat is slow and moderate. The best cooking times are when the sun is highest in the sky and the cooker is left in direct light. Cooking times for items vary and some will require water to be added.

Most vegetables can be cooked in an hour and a half, as will roast nuts. Neither of those items require water to be added. For grains, use a mix of two parts water for every one part grain; this should be ready to serve within two hours. Meats, chicken and fish vary on cooking times due to their size and density. Generally, fish takes one to one and a half hours, while chicken and meat will cook between one and a half and three hours.

The solar funnel cooker is cost and eco-friendly. It requires very little effort to construct and is portable. There are a variety of uses for the solar funnel cooker, from cooking foods to pasteurizing water. Solar power can be harnessed in many ways, but perhaps the simplest is through solar cooking. Solar cookers make using alternative fuel sources both accessible and affordable. Solar cookers are especially beneficial to campers, including RV owners and backpackers.

Step by step video tutorials for your next solar project. A Solar cooker is inexpensive. Find solar cooking tips at http://www.websolarsearch.com

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Solar cooking … affordable first step to lower electricity bills

Bigger monthly electricity bills are powering a surge of interest in energy-saving ideas.

Two key statistics in the family quest for energy-efficiency are the average household electricity consumption, according to Eskom, of 1100kWh per month, with an estimated 8% of consumption ascribed to the stove in your kitchen.

Eskom-free cooking by some other means can therefore save up to 8% on power bills that recently went up by more than a quarter.

The arithmetic has sparked renewed interest in solar cooking, says Herman Warren, chief executive of Sun Ray Cooker, manufacturers of a South Africa-made solar cooker that has become a major beneficiary of the energy-efficiency trend.

Families are examining an array of power-saving options, but generally want to make an affordable, hassle-free start that’s easy to implement.

Warren explains: “High initial costs deter many people from adopting solar geysers – even with an Eskom subsidy. Pre-paid meters as a monitoring option can also be quite expensive.

“Those who are ‘going green’ will certainly consider solar roof tiles or shingles at some future stage, but this entails significant investment and means calling in a roofing contractor.

“As electricity bills soar, South Africans will move towards solutions like this, but for now they are primarily in the market for an affordable starting point they don’t have to pay a contractor’s crew to install – this usually means a solar cooker you simply set up in the sun.”

The patented Sun Ray Cooker is affordable, durable and child’s play to use.

It is a slow-cooker, which means there is no danger of over-cooking. Food is simply placed inside the box and left out in the sun. There is no need to stir. Natural temperature build-up cooks the food. Generally, a slow solar cooker takes twice the time to cook a meal as a conventional stove.

Food for up to six people can be cooked at one time in the Sun Ray Cooker.

Warren adds: “Our cooker enables you to cook everything from beans to stews. The cooker will also bake bread. Customers often experiment and share new meal ideas they have cooked up, including desserts.

“Users get into the habit of popping a meal into the cooker, leaving it out in the sun and going to the shops or gym. They then come back to a naturally cooked and nutritious meal. Solar cooking becomes part of the lifestyle. You plug into the great power-point in the sky and the sun does the rest.”

Solar cooking is an all-year option. Even winter sunshine is sufficient for perfect cooking results, says Warren.

“The sun puts out its rays non-stop without putting up its rates,” says Warren. “That’s the sort of utility South Africans are looking for.”

Sunshine cooking sure beats slaving over a hot stove…

Summer’s here. The temperature’s on the up and up. Lazing by the pool is high on the agenda or perhaps parking off in the garden within easy reach of a long, cool drink is your idea of fun in the sun.

What you don’t need is a couple of hours in the kitchen, slaving over a hot stove. You’ve got to eat, but culinary inspiration shouldn’t involve that amount of perspiration.

And there’s no reason why it should.

South Africa’s latest lifestyle accessory means cooking is no sweat.

Sunshine cooking is in and the solar cooking box is all set to transform the South African approach to dining al fresco. The sun, your power socket in the sky, provides all the heat you need. 

Solar power has been harnessed for centuries. The Egyptians used it to bake bricks. You can use it for baking, roasting, stewing; even for making desserts.

Newly launched Sun Ray Cooker, now proudly manufactured in South Africa, is at the forefront of the local trend to non-polluting, eco-friendly solar cooking.

You simply place the food in a black pot or a pot wrapped in Sun Ray Cooker Foil, pop into the open box and leave in the sun. The patented Sun Ray Cooker is a slow cooker, so there’s no need to worry about over-cooking.

There’s no fuss, no rush and no need to stir. Most fans of sunshine cuisine put the food in the box in the morning and leave it until mid-day.

You do your thing and the solar cooking box does the rest. You can cook in your garden or take your Sun Ray Cooker out for a picnic. It only weighs a little over 3kg, yet still holds enough food to serve six.

Herman Warren, Sun Ray Cooker’s founder, says the safe, no-smoke, no-fire method of open-air cooking brings a new dimension to outdoor living.

“The traditional South African braai will always have its place in the sun,” says Herman, “but solar cooking is a clean, convenient and eco-friendly alternative.

“The food cooks naturally in its own juices. The results are nutritious and delicious. You can cook a complete meal – the meat and veg, the bread and desserts to follow.”

In October, South Africa enjoys an average of 8.9 hours of sunshine a day. In November, this goes up to 9.9 hours. Solar cooking usually takes only one to three hours.

§  People warming to the solar cooking concept can visit www.sunraycooker.co.za for hot recipe tips and information on how to get the most out of their Sun Ray Cooker.