Country: Mexico
School/ organization: Instituto Escuela del Sur
Delegation leader/ teacher: Abraham Pita Larrañaga
Students: Alberto García Martínez, Santiago García Martínez, Nareni Pineda Juárez, Martina Sánchez Caballero, Patricio Sánchez Caballero, Javier Vega Sandoval.
Partner organization: ENGIE Mexico
Project title: The solar oven as a tool of sustainability in Mexico
Mexico’s sunny weather throughout the year and all along its territory makes possible to take advantage of the energy radiated by the sun for its use in the operation of some thermal machines, for example, solar ovens. In specific, one can take advantage of the sun's energy for domestic cooking, and thus reduce the consumption of natural gas and LP gas.
A technology as simple as a homemade solar oven is important in Mexico, because it helps communities that do not have access to fossil fuels and therefore have difficulty cooking their food, on the other hand, it is possible to reduce the CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions and other pollutants to the environment. The homemade solar oven is not the solution to the problem of pollution, but it helps to the care of the environment.
The materials used to make the oven are: a wooden box, we use a 30 cm long by 30 cm wide and 13 cm high. The box was painted black, its interior was lined with mirrors covering the base and the walls. It also has a parabola of mirror paper that reflects the rays of the sun towards the inside of the box. The oven is efficient, reaches temperatures between 70 ° C and 100 °C in a relatively short time.