DIY Simple Solar Oven

This is an instructable page that will tell you how to make your very own solar oven. This took me about an hour to actually make and it was relatively easy. I will go through step by step on how to actually make the oven. It's a pretty neat and fun thing to try out, and it's pretty inexpensive.

This is a list of materials that you will need to create your oven.

1. 1 insulating box.( We used a styrofoam box)
2. 1 durable box that the insulating box can fit inside. (We used a cardboard box)
3. 1 roll of aluminum foil.
4. A transparent lid that completely covers the insulating box. ( We used plexiglass)
5. Black pots or pans. (Depends on what you want to cook)

This is a list of tools you will need to create the oven.

• 1 roll of duct tape
• 1 roll of scotch tape
• A box cutter or a pair of scissors.

This took a bit of time for me to do, but is easy if you're good at finding things. I happened to already have a styrofoam box at my house which was really convenient, and I also already had some black pots and pans. I was able to get some plexiglass cut to match the lid of the styrofoam box at the local Farm and Fleet in my town. I then was able to buy a box that was able to hold the styrofoam box at Home Depot. We were able to find some aluminum foil at the local grocery store.

The first thing you have to do once you have all of your materials is to make sure the styrofoam box fits into the cardboard box. You then will have to cut the front flap off so as to let the sunlight enter from that side. We then gut the two back corners about 4 inches so the back flap would be able to fold over the styrofoam box. We decided to duct tape the newly cut off front flap to the back flap so we could make it reach longer.

In this step we covered the inside of the styrofoam box with aluminum foil. The foil works as an excellent material for reflecting the sun rays. The styrofoam then acts as a great insulator which helps move and trao the heat inside the box.

The next thing you must do is to cover the remaining flaps on the box with the aluminum foil. This helps reflect the sun's rays into the box where it can then get trapped inside the styrofoam. The back flap does most of the reflecting while the two side flaps help trap the heat inside.

Once you have completely covered both the flaps and the styrofoam box, place the styrofoam box inside the cardboard box. Then, tape the side flaps in a way the stands them upright. Next, push and move the back flap so it angles up and rests above the styrofoam box.

Once you have arranged and set up the flaps, place a black pot or pan inside the styrofoam box. I recommend that you use a black pot or pan because black absorbs heat well and gives you the best results. Once you have done that, place the transparent lid on top of the styrofoam box. This will allow sunlight to go through, but it will trap the heat inside. You have now finished your oven. Try out different kinds of food and leave them out in the sunlight for a bit. You may be surprised by the results. Note: Outside temperature and climate may affect the results of the oven, so be prepared to make a few changes if necessary.