Solar nachos on the lawn

Students at Penn State Greater Allegheny cook with the Sun
students bending over on lawn

Students in Penn State Greater Allegheny's Energy and the Environment course (EGEE 101), examine their recently built and tested solar ovens.

Credit: Linda M. Curinga

MCKEESPORT, Pa. — At Penn State Greater Allegheny, Instructor in Environmental Engineering Alandra Kahl’s students in her Energy and the Environment (EGEE 101) course  recently built and tested solar ovens.

Solar ovens are used around the world in developing areas as a cheap and efficient way to cook food. They are environmentally friendly, as they use the heat of sun to warm food, rather than wood or charcoal as fuel. Kahl explained that this reduces deforestation and increases quality of life for those using the cookers, as they are not expending energy gathering firewood or inhaling wood smoke while preparing dishes.

The type of cooker the students made is a box cooker. Box cookers cook at moderate to high temperatures and often accommodate multiple pots. Worldwide, they are the most widespread.

students looking at Pizza Box ovens

Students in Penn State Greater Allegheny's Energy and the Environment course (EGEE 101), examine their recently built and tested solar ovens.

Credit: Linda M. Curinga

Students placed their ovens on the lawn in front of the lion statue and took temperature readings every ten minutes to find out the efficiency of their solar ovens. Each oven had a bag of chips and cheese to make solar nachos inside. Temperature data were then used to find a performance index for each oven based on temperature difference and cost. Students were then able to eat their results.

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