News and Recent Developments
The History of Solar Cooking in Chile
The long thin nation of Chile, stretching along the western flank of the Andes for close to half of the continent, has lively and extensive solar cooking programs in this part of the world. Considerable collaboration between a number of university faculty members, government units, and voluntary organizations has produced a situation which provided enormous publicity for the use of solar cookers. Even though the technology cannot be used in all parts of Chile for all months of the year, a number of projects have been carried out successfully and use is widespread in areas where solar cooking is appropriate.
Faculty members of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, University of Chile, were instrumental in starting early programs in various regions of the country, testing devices and project methods in arid and semi-arid regions where fuel had become extremely scarce. In early stages, a "national contest" was held to encourage innovation in design and to create widespread interest in the potential. Twenty-two designs were submitted to the competition, clearly reflecting strong interest. Eight of them proved to function satisfactorily and were later used in the demonstrations. Next, an "encounter" was held, focusing on how to make cookers available economically and how to adapt them to the specific needs of households. A project was then developed in a rural municipality town, Lampa, north of Santiago (central in the country), employing a population of 72 families as interviewees to explore issues of fuel usage and expense, household size and food preferences, cooking patterns, etc. A small number of cookers were made available for use of selected families as "experimenters". Considerable interest was generated, other community meetings were held, and ultimately the community decided to build cookers themselves. This experiment served as the basis for projects in different areas. A portion of this work was accomplished in connection with a UNESCO project focused on use and conservation of hydrological resources in Latin America and the Caribbean. Representatives of this university unit have also prepared an excellent solar cookbook for use in projects in Spanish-speaking countries.
A number of other institutions have collaborated in solar promotion in Chile, including the Universidad Technica, School of Architecture, where a prominent promoter, Pedro Serrano, is affiliated. The best known project in Chile is located in Villaseca, also north of Santiago. In this community, virtually all residents cook with solar power. The area is ideally suited, being blessed with 310 days of sunshine in a year and plagued by dramatic fuel scarcity. Perhaps the best known part of the work in Villaseca (and certainly the best publicized) is the open-air solar restaurant using ten large reflecting ovens and providing employment for members of 26 families. It serves meals to around 60 people a day and must turn down 40 others until it can increase its capacity. It is a frequent stop for tourist groups from many nations. The owners also use homegrown organic vegetables and fruits and are reputed to serve the best food in Chile.
Many stories are associated with the Villaseca experiment, including one about the local safety inspector who insisted they needed a chimney for smoke to pass through. But for the most part, the work garners praise and its proprietors are kept busy responding to questions from other villages that would like to emulate the project. Serrano estimates that there are around 300,000 potential users of solar ovens in Chile. Villaseca women have also been lending a helping hand to women in neighboring Paraguay who are interested in learning more about solar cooking.
The experiments in Chile appear to have substantial support from government and other organizational sources. In addition, as long ago as 1992, the Germany group, Solar Institut Julisch, had demonstrated the use of parabolic cookers with retained heat capacity, an experiment later repeated in India, Egypt and elsewhere. Chileans have thus been exposed to a range of types of cookers, in the search for designs powerful enough for their climate.
[Information for this section was taken originally from State of the Art of Solar Cooking by Dr. Barbara Knudson]
Climate, Culture, and Special Considerations
Documents
Reports
Articles in the media
Web pages
Audio and video
Egg frying on parabolic cooker |
Contacts
- A complete list of NGOs and individuals working in Chile is available in the International Directory of Solar Cooking Promotors.
NGOs based in or working in the Chile
- Solar Cookers International Network
- Inti
- EG-Solar
- ULOG Freiburg
- Solar Cookers International
- S.T.E.V.E.N. Foundation
- Solar Oven Partners UMC
- Solar Connect Association
- Solar Circle
- Global Hope Network International
- Centro Uruguayo de Tecnologías Apropiadas
- Friendly Appropriate Solar Technologies
- Centre Ecologique Albert Schweitzer
- Solar Oven Society
- African Centre for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology
- Sun Ovens International
- Centre for Rural Technology, Nepal
- El Fuego del Sol
- Barli Development Institute for Rural Women
- Association des Femmes Ingénieurs du Mali
- Solar Cooker Workgroup Sliedrecht NL
- International Center for Networking, Ecology, Education and Re-Integration
- Solar Solutions
- SunFire Solutions
- Solarinstitut Jülich
- Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza
- Aprovecho Research Center
- Association pour le Développement de l'Energie Solaire
- Vajra Foundation
- Canelo de Nos
- International Solar Energy Society
- Solar Household Energy
- Solar Cooking KoZon
- GloboSol
- Stichting Vluchteling
- Rotary Club of Fresno
- Grupo Fénix
- The Energy and Resources Institute
- Atouts Soleil
- International Organization for Migration
- Naandi Foundation
- Sonnenenergie für Westafrika
- Adventist Development and Relief Agency Somalia
- Fundació Terra
- Solare Brücke
- Association Malienne des Femmes Handicapées
- Brahma Kumaris
- Foundation for Sustainable Technologies
- Fundación Inti Uma Ecuador
- Sol Suffit
- Solemyo
- ExSol
- Lotan Center for Creative Ecology
- Girl Guides Association of Malaysia
- Fundación Celestina Pérez de Almada
- China Association of Rural Energy Industry
- Las Mujeres Solares de Totogalpa
- Aga Khan Foundation
- MéxicoSOL
- Shem Women's Group
- Solar Clutch
- SUPO
- Unidad Ecológica Salvadoreña
- Asociación de Lisiados de Guerra de El Salvador
- Solar Food Processing Network
- Adventures in Health, Education, and Agricultural Development
- Fundación EcoAndina
- WISIONS of Sustainability
- Earth Passengers
- Solar Cookers for Africa
- Solar Association TILOO
- Solar Cooking Concept
- Bethel Business and Community Development Centre
- Cocinando con el Sol
- Solar Inti
- Promoters, Researchers and Innovators in New and Clean Energy
- Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust
- Co2balance
- Senegal Ecovillage Network
- Sizzling Solar Systems
- Centro de Capacitación para el Desarrollo
- Pakistan Council for Renewable Energy Technologies
- Category:NGOs employing microcredit
- Re-newcy
- Practical Action
- Jordanian Renewable Energy Society
- Category:NGOs employing carbon credits
- Malaviya Solar Energy Consultancy
- GEF Small Grants Programme
- Manos Unidas
- Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre and Network
- Japan Solar Energy Education Association
- Dada Zanzibar
- Solar Smelters International
- Border Partners
- Grupo Jaragua
- Zahana
- Habitat for Humanity Sri Lanka
- World Vision Mali
- Developing World Solar
- Grupo de Energías Renovables Aplicadas
- World Central Kitchen
- Trust in Education
- African Millennium Foundation
- Climate Healers
- PROMOSOL
- Citizens for Solar
- Via Organica
- Foundation for the Support of Women’s Work
- GRUPEDSAC
- Sun Cookers International
- Solar Liberty Foundation
- CECAM Bolivia
- Earthbound Technology
- Student Solar Cooking Science Project
- Clean Cooking Alliance
- TanzSolar
- New Energy Works
- MWAYEO KENYA
- NGO Sustainability, Inc.
- Network of NGOs of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
- Environmental and Rural Mediation Centre
- ACCESO
- Appropedia
- Pleno Sol
- Cooloola Solar Systems
- Category:Rotary Clubs
- Solare Zukunft
- Category:NGOs employing heat-retention cookers
- Solvatten
- Associação Caatinga
- Lejofonds
- Simplified Technologies for Life
- Sustainable Utilization of Renewable Energy
- Friends of the Old
- NAREWAMA
- Rotary Club of Los Altos (California)
- Category:NGOs using CooKits
- Cal Poly Solar Cooking
- Tamera Solar Village
- Cocina Solar Mexico
- Sur la Piste
- Engineers Without Borders - Iran
- O'paybo
- Cucinare con il Sole
- Blik op Afrika
- Ecozoom UK
- Keshav Srushti
- Girl Scouts Heart of Central California
- Solar Cooking Plus
- Inti Illimani
- Category:NGOs employing heat storage
- Engineers Without Borders - Sweden
- Lernen - Helfen - Leben e.V.
- Amigos de Taquile
- ET-Solar Tech
- Solar Alternatives and Associated Programmes
- SELCO Foundation
- Lytefire
- Solar Cookers India
- Women Barefoot Solar Cooker Engineers Society
- Sentinelle dell'Energia
- Instituto Ecuatoriano de Investigaciones y Capacitación de la Mujer
- Sahara Sahel Foods
- Sol Solidari
- Norges Naturvernforbund
- United Village Transformation
- Jimmy McGilligan Centre for Sustainable Development
- Category:NGOs employing biomass briquettes
- Lazola-Initiative zur Verbreitung solaren Kochens e.V.
- Sunshine On My Shoulder
- Central American Solar Energy Project
- Rotary Club of Tapachula Centenario
- Imani Women's Group
- International Volunteer Cultural Centre
- Rotary Club of Gulu
- We Care For You Uganda
- Sun and Ice
- Amane Studio
- Category:NGOs employing fuel-efficient wood stoves
- Solar Cookers International Association
- Pakistan Science Club
- United States Agency for International Development
- UNESCO
- Fogão Solar
- Category:NGOs employing solar food dryers
- Renewable Energy Development Center
- TrinySol
- Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa
- Florida Solar Energy Center
- Lady Fatemah Trust
- Greenpop - Solar for Trees
- Kerr-Cole Sustainable Living Center
- EMACE Foundation
- Congo Clean Cookers
- Uttarakhand Renewable Development Agency
- American Solar Energy Society
- Tonembee Association
- Farmers with a Vision
- Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam
- Solar Freedom International
- Red Mujeres en Energía Renovable y Eficiencia Energética
- Greenpeace
- Welfare Society for Solar Development
- Asulma Centre Self Help Group
- Association des Volontaires Guineens Pour l' Environnement
- Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya
- Oficina Solar Tlacochahuaya
- AFAPE
- AfriShiners
- 100 Suns
- B4Dignity
- Sun24
- La Sazón del Sol
- PNUD en République démocratique du Congo
- Wonderbag
- Cozinhar com o Sol
- Rotary International
- Haiti Adolescent Girls Network
- Garota Intelligentsia
- Florida Renewable Energy Association
- Solar Cooking Campaign for Grassroots
- Our 1 World
- STAR-TIDES
- Solar Education Project
- Le Présage
- Easy Solar
- Winam Jua CBO
- Auroville Solar Kitchen
- SOCO Burundi
- Mount Kenya Energy Project
- Маленькая Земля
- Agence de Développement Economique et Social
- The Nature Conservancy
- Advancing Sustainable Household Energy Solutions (ASHES)
- Ecomandate
- Nabahya Food Institute
- Zenaga Foundation
- Tamera
- Athel Technology Limited
- Low-tech Lab
- Care and Support Network
- Rosa Solar Stoves
- Centro Cottura Solare CFV
- Solar Fire
- EnergyTeachers.org
- Sustainable NE Seattle
- Brahma Kumaris Global Peace House
- NJUBA Children Relief
- Solar Cookers for Haiti
- Public-Private Alliance Foundation
- COMPE
- UNDP
Individuals
Manufacturers and vendors
- Redsun Solar Industries
- Fair Fabricators
- ULOG Freiburg
- ClearDome Solar Thermal
- Solar Solutions
- EG-Solar
- Sun Ovens International
- HotBag Project
- Solar Roast Coffee
- El Fuego del Sol
- Solar Circle
- Canelo de Nos
- Solar Household Energy
- Solar Connect Association
- Vajra Foundation
- Sun and Ice
- Solea Consulting
- Association pour le Développement de l'Energie Solaire
- BonzaBuy!
- SunFire Solutions
- Solvatten
- EnKing International
- Promoters, Researchers and Innovators in New and Clean Energy
- TinyTech Plants
- Solar Clutch
- Solar Oven Society
- Solar Oven Tracker (Privette)
- Malaviya Solar Energy Consultancy
- FUTEK
- SunOK
- Rudra Solar Energy
- Pascal Goux
- Solar Brother
- Foundation for Sustainable Technologies
- Solar Cookers for Africa
- Qingdao Lingding New Energy Co., Ltd
- Olympus Flower
- Blazing Tube Solar
- Solar Energy Enterprises
- Fogão Solar
- California Sunlight Corporation
- Sol Suffit
- Re-newcy
- Radha Energy Cell
- Simply Solar
- Sun Ovens Australia
- Su Solartech Systems
- Manik Solar Innovation
- Pleno Sol
- Copenhagen Solar Cooker
- Cooloola Solar Systems
- 邢台县翟村浩阳节能灶具制造厂
- Holms and Friends
- Hi-MIN Solar
- Madison Solar Engineering
- Hartmut Ehmler
- SUNFLAIR
- SunGenius
- Ecovidasolar
- Rolf Behringer
- Dale Schuck
- Trust in Education
- Amane Studio
- Solarama Energy & Services
- GoSun
- Roberto Román
- Ravindra Pardeshi
- ET-Solar Tech
- Inti
- Solemyo
- Sahara Sahel Foods
- Solar Chef International
- SLiCK
- Solarmate
- Tapi Food Products
- Fornelia
- Lazola-Initiative zur Verbreitung solaren Kochens e.V.
- Cocina Solar Web
- SUNplicity
- Cucinare con il Sole
- Solar Oven Reflectors
- Liking Energy Co., Ltd
- Indiamart
- Togo Tilé
- International Volunteer Cultural Centre
- Solar Cooker Workgroup Sliedrecht NL
- Kate's Solar Kitchen
- Bjorn Qorn
- Sun Cookers International
- Ecozoom UK
- So Solar
- Foundation for the Support of Women’s Work
- HoSa Solar
- ISOMET
- Sun Buckets
- Heliac
- A Better Focus Co., Inc.
- All Season Solar Cooker
- Sharon Clausson
- Sun Oven India
- UNesar Private Limited
- Sara Hjalmarsson
- Sustainable.co.za
- Haines Solar Cookers
- La Sazón del Sol
- Solar Foods
- Wonderbag
- Jim La Joie
- Jet-Flame
- HC Solar
- Solar Cooker at Cantina West
- Le Présage
- Easy Solar
- User:Rudrasolarind
- Solar Chef
- Winam Jua CBO
- Sun & Cook
- SOCO Burundi
- Ecoo
- DayStar Solar Cooking Solutions
- Solmeiodia
- Green Sun Rising
- SoLenium technology
- Ecomandate
- ETE ETMATE Solar Oven
- Taste of Sun
- Sundish
- Solar India
- Kivu
- Delicias de Oaxaca
- Pesitho
- SunSpot Solar Electric Cooking
- Sun Dome
- Orjabox
- Solar Ranch
- Rosa Solar Stoves
- NeoLoco
- Asolar
- Solar Fire
- Partners with Sun
- SOLA Solar Cooker 1
- SunVenture
- Qingdao Huama Metal Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
- Southwest Stainless Large Solar Cooker
- Sunrise CSP
- SunPower Co-op
- Sunstore Technologies