EventsEdit

See Calendar of events

News and Recent DevelopmentsEdit

• January 2013: Utilization of solar cookers in the Basic Secondary School in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba - The Applied Renewable Energies Group (GERA) have successfully been using their versatile solar cookers to introduce solar cooking to seventh grade students at the Basic Secondary School in Cuba. The group feels it is an excellent time to introduce alternative energy strategies to these younger students. At the end of the school year, parents are invited to attend a solar festival at the school to see how the students have put their training into practice. Read more about the project at: GERA student project in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

• February 2011: The eco-friendly vegetarian restaurant, El Romero, in Pinar del Rio, has begun to offer dishes prepared with solar cookers.

  

The History of Solar Cooking in CubaEdit

When planning was underway for the Second World Conference on Solar Cooking, to be held in Costa Rica, in July of 1994, an abstract for a presentation to be made was received from a Cuban staff member of the Solar Energy Research Center in that nation. The letter told of their work, particularly with solar drying of food and even construction materials, as well as the use of solar energy for purifying and distilling water. What happened is unclear, as the paper does not appear in the program. However, it is evident that some action regarding the use of solar energy for household was taking place at that time.

Two years later, in 1996, an SCI volunteer and trainer of many, Don Coan of Sacramento, California, attended a conference on sustainable energy use in Cuba. He recounted some of the uses of solar energy he was shown during his visit. Sun Oven box cookers, gifts from a visitor, were in use at an Eco-restaurant at the National Botanical Garden. One secondary school had a large parabolic solar reflector that directed sunrays to pots inside the building - it was however not in use at the time of Coan's visit.

Considerable use of photo-voltaics was evident, and small streams were used to generate hydroelectric power. Waste from the production of sugar is burned as a major source of energy, producing a good bit of pollution, and use of renewable energy would obviously be useful. However, the embargo on goods has made any and all importation difficult and costly.

The Renewable Energy Group at Eastern University, Santiago de Cuba, indicated in 1998 that they had been working on solar cookers for over ten years and had at that time disseminated 200 cookers to families and 50 to schools of the area. It is evident that substantial interest and experimentation has been present in Cuba. Cuba has excellent sunshine and few other fuel resources; hence it could almost certainly utilize solar cooking. Cuba may well be doing more than is known without communicating that information to the international community.

[Information for this section was taken originally from State of the Art of Solar Cooking by Dr. Barbara Knudson]

Climate, Culture, and Special ConsiderationsEdit

• Solar cooker dissemination and cultural variables

ResourcesEdit

ReportsEdit

Articles in the mediaEdit

• December 2012: Cuba: 15 Years GERA Solar Thermal R&D and Testing - Solarthermalworld.org

Web pagesEdit

• Preguntas Frecuentes de la Cocción Solar

Grupo de discusión FacebookEdit

• Cocinillas Solares sin Fronteras

Audio and videoEdit

• Dozens of Spanish-language videos showing solar cooking activities - TubeOli

Cuba contactsEdit

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)Edit

Government agenciesEdit

Eductional institutionsEdit

IndividualsEdit

Manufacturers and vendorsEdit

See alsoEdit