Solar Oven Building Workshop

The students from the University of North Carolina were instrumental in organizing and facilitating our first Solar Oven Building Workshop.  From left to right above:  Julie Mikus, Brandon Dixon, Jessie Kruse, Avani Javer, Roshen Edathil and Anushri Deshai.

We collected boxes from all over Santa Elena for weeks before the date of the workshop so we would have enough to make 10 ovens.  There were 20 women who wanted to participate, 10 from each of the two women's groups, so we divided them into teams of two to work together on the ovens.

The volunteers began by matching up boxes in pairs ... one approximately 2" larger on all sides than the other in each pair.  Sometimes they had to actually rebuild the boxes to get the right size.

Gloria and Doña Goya have chosen their paired up boxes.

Lots of cutting and folding.

The cut folded pieces of cardboard are stuffed below and into the sides, between the two boxes, to provide insulation to the stove.

Then the flaps of the outside box are folded and tucked in, and the flaps of the inside box are folded and then glued down to the outside of the box.

Then the insides were painted black.

A great deal of hilarity ensued when the women tried a variety of alternatives while trying to figure out the "wings", but it didn't take them long to come up with a workable design.

And cover it with aluminium foil.

The last step is to measure and cut a piece of glass about 1" larger than the smallest box on all sides.