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Last edited: 2 February 2015      
Villaseca solar restaurant

The Delicias del Sol in Villaseca,Chile uses a dozen or so box cookers and a few parabolic cookers to prepare food for their patrons. The restaurant is operated by the Association of Solar Artisans of Villaseca.

A number of solar restaurants and bakeries and solar food processors have been established in various parts of the world as income-producing enterprises.

Recent news and developments

  • December 2014: In an article for National Geographic, Chef José Andrés writes about his pop-up restaurant, Sunny Day, which he opened at the Life is Beatufiul event in Las Vegas, NV. Sunny Day used solar cookers to cook their signature dish, vegetarian tacos, during the day and clean-burining ethanol in the evening. Read article...
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  • October 2014: José Andrés debuts Sunny Day pop-up restaurant at Life is Beautiful festival - At the Life is Beautiful festival in Las Vegas, NV, José Andrés debuted Sunny Day, his new solar-powered pop-up restaurant. His goal for the new pop-up restaurant is to educate Americans about clean cooking around the world. Interview with José Andrés.
R20-bakery-March-2014

Regions 20 initiates second phase of solar bakery project in Burundi

  • March 2014: R20 initiates second phase of solar bakery project in Burundi - The second phase of the project began with a stakeholder consultation workshop where 32 participants (women bakers, local officials) gathered to discuss the potential benefits of having a solar bakery as well as concerns they may have. The workshop was a success, and the women bakers expressed their gratefulness to R20 and CIRID for helping to start this project that will reduce the amount of smoke they inhale as much less wood will be needed to bake. The solar bakery project will provide a solar-powered oven to a small bakery in Gitega, Burundi, that employs women that have been marginalized by their communities. More information... Update: The deadline has been extended to submit proposals from tenders interested in providing three institutional solar cookers. Submittal information provided in January update.
  • January 2014: International aid organization seeks solar cookers for bakery in Burundi - The global relief organization R20-Regions of Climate Action has organized a solar bakery project in Rutegama, Burundi. Currently the bakery, in operation since 2006, has relied on wood-fired ovens, with the wood needing to be gathered by the women working at the bakery. They are soliciting proposals from tenders interested in providing three institutional solar ovens required to convert the bakery to solar. The ovens must be limited to three meters(a little under 10 ft.) in height, and if carried, weighing no more than 10 kg (22 lbs.). Unfortunately proposals need to be submitted by January 31, 2014. Interested parties will find more information here: Invitation to Tender For Solar Bakery Project, Burundi. The scale of the project may be rather small, but the funding and implementation is coming from world leaders in the field of economic and environmental relief.
  • December 2012: In the hot and dry village of Villaseca in central Chile, the sun's rays are hard at work here at Delicias del Sol restaurant, cooking up delectable dishes in the eatery's 20 solar ovens. The ovens were originally introduced to the village as a trial project from the University of Chile and the Institute for Nutrition and Food Technology. Delicias del Sol, which started out with a 16 person capacity, now seats 120. The future looks bright for Delicias del Sol. Read more...

Africa

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Solar Project Gambia bakery 2009

Solar Project Gambia writes: "The best examples of success is the bakery and the restaurant. They really make solar food popular. Through our daily presentations in the street with delicious cakes and cookies in the solar cookers we could make a lot of people interested and curious. The bakery sets an example of how it is possible to generate an income with Solar baking. Our products are to be found along the coast in different supermarkets, small shops and along the beach. The project's restaurant serves solar baked cakes and pastries in a natural environment. The project is also visited by tourists on city tours. The tours are a great opportunity for the visitors to get unforgettable memories of their holiday in Gambia and bring a small solar gift for their friends and relatives back home from the SPG. The feedbacks is very positive."

Vendors selling fish in Morocco

Vendors cooking fish with the sun on the beach south of Casablanca, Morocco

Parabolic trough ivan yaholnitsky 2008

Since June 2005 the Bethel Business and Community Development Centre in Lesotho has used this parabolic trough cooker to bake 24-40 loaves a day. Even though the dough is kneaded by hand, an income double that of the minimum wage has been achieved.

SolarBakingStove

This example shows a small bakery in the North of Namibia. The small scale bakery is able to bake up to 100 loaves of bread a day or about 300 little fish-tin rolls. For more info, contact Rolf Behringer.

True Vinyards Ministries photo 4-25-10

U.S-based True Vineyard Ministries provides sustainable opportunities for widows and children impacted by genocide, subsequent conflicts, and HIV/AIDS in [[Rwanda}}. Its “Bake the Cycle” project is helping to break the cycle of poverty by providing solar bakery jobs to 10 widowed women supporting families in Ruhengeri. The bakery provides a variety of breads to local businesses and families. The women use a commercial-sized Villager Sun Oven® that reaches temperatures in excess of 250°C and can bake hundreds of loaves of bread each day. It has a propane backup system for evening use and during inclement weather. According to True Vineyard Ministries, the project is already having an impact. “For the first time in the widows’ lives, they are able to consistently provide food, clothing, shelter, and education for their families.”

Gaudenziah Wedende pours sun cooked tea for a customer

Camily and Gaudenziah Wedende have started the Seeing is Believing Cafe in Eldoret, Kenya. They are cooking cakes, tea, and other solar-cooked goodies, and selling them in front of their Sun Cookers International business. Tanya Cothran, Director of Spirit in Action, writes about their cafe on the Spirit in Action's blog.

Sri Lanka solar dinner, 1-7-14

Sri Lankan restaurant owner promotes eco-friendly cooking - Down south on the beach in Induruwa, Sri Lanka, chef Nelson Wimalasooriya, demonstrates how he can prepare his dinner late in the day without firewood or other fuels, except for the day's remaining energy from the sun. He uses a parabolic solar cooker originally designed by Dieter Seifert.

See also

  • New mobile solar bakery benefits the population of Méouane, Senegal
  • Solar bakery at work in Zambia

Asia

Solar_Cooking

Solar Cooking

A restaurant in Thailand grills with a Helios Array, October 2010.

Europe

Solar Creperie Goetz 2009

GloboSol has a solar creperi built on a trailer that can be towed to large events. The solar creperie is run by ExSol and active members of GloboSol

Lapin Kulta Solar staff

The Solar Kitchen Restaurant travels through Europe in the summer.

Solemsol 2012 cropped

Solemsol is a moveable, outdoor solar restaurant in Portugal

Sun Bridge restaurant food prep

Food is prepared with parabolic solar cookers at the seasonal Sun Bridge restaurant in Poznan, Poland.

India

Sol-Cafe

In India a Sol-Café was built for a 100-children residential school in village Kothara in the Kutch district. The area is arid and severely short of fuel wood. It has on the other hand, abundance of sun. Commissioned in June 2003, it has been in regular use since. Since that time Sol-Cafés have been built in seven other villages.

Auroville Solar Kitchen ext

Auroville Solar Kitchen, near Puducherry in South India.

Latin America

Villaseca solar restaurant

The Delicias del Sol in Villaseca,Chile uses a dozen or so box cookers and a few parabolic cookers to prepare food for their patrons. The restaurant is operated by the Association of Solar Artisans of Villaseca.

EcoAndina reuters 2009

Solar power gives Andean villages a new lease on life - Reuters (Also a Reuters video shows an EcoAndina project in the village of Misa Rumi in Argentina where everything is powered by the sun. Pictured above is the town bakery where 5 kg of bread are cooked every hour.)

Solar Gourmet

Solar Global Gourmet is a restaurant franchise for a business utilizing solar radiation for cooking food. Solar Gourmet is a new brand dedicated to promote and give glamor to solar cooking which represents a system of ecological friendly and healthy food preparation at gourmet levels.

Solar Women of Totogalpa baking photo 4-24-10

Solar Women of Totogalpa using their solar box cookers to produce baked goods for sale in Nicaragua

Solar Women of Totogalpa restaurant 1

The Solar Women of Totogalpa operate a solar restaurant in the small village of Sabana Grande, where they offer solar cooked foods, solar dried fruits and coffee.

Taqueria Poncho in use

The Taqueria Poncho, solar street vendor cart is the first of its kind in Oaxaca,Mexico.

El Romero restaurant, Cuba

Chef Inti Langaney cooks with a parabolic solar cooker at the El Romero vegetarian eco-restaurant in Pinar del Rio, Cuba.

Cocinas_Solares_en_San_Pedro_de_Atacama_Chile.-

Cocinas Solares en San Pedro de Atacama Chile.-

Solar cooking at Restaurant Ayllu in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.

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Nicolau Bussolotti Francine of Pleno Sol, a solar bakery located in Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil.

Kiosco SOLAR cart, 2-27-13

The Kiosco SOLAR solar powered street food carts are operating in several cities in northern Argentina.

Middle East

Jamhuriat Girls School Kabul Scheffler array.jpg.

A Scheffler Community Kitchen was installed in the spring of 2010 at the Jamhuriat High School for Girls in Afghanistan through the efforts of Solare Brücke. The school is located in the heart of Kabul. The school has an enrollment of 1000 girls and the new kitchen will serve approximately 700 students who have lunch at the school each day. Everyone there looks forward to stop using the wood-fired kitchen stove, and are quite proud that the entire new solar kitchen has been produced in Afghanistan.

North America

Basin-from-above-web

Bjorn Qorn is a solar food producer in the Hudson Valley region of New York, USA, making sun-popped popcorn for sale locally and on the Internet.

Solar Roast Coffee storefront

Solar Roast Coffee uses a 7 m2 concentrator called Helios 3 that can roast 2.5 kg of coffee grains in 22 minutes. Using Helios 3, instead of a gas fired conventional roaster, about 2 tons of CO2 emissions are prevented. The company started selling their exclusivly organic, fair trade, solar roasted coffees in 2004 and opened its first Cafe in Pueblo, Colorado, USA in February 2007.

Worldwide

Sun Ovens International bakeries

Villager Sun Ovens are currently in use in 40 countries around the world in bakeries. Sun Ovens International has developed an optional 150 piece Micro-Sun-Bakery package that enables the creation of a self-sustaining micro-enterprise to turn out fresh baked goods while creating jobs and eliminating the cost of fuel. This program helps to alleviate poverty and enhance the quality of life by empowering women to raise their standard of living through self-sustaining micro-enterprise. This enterprise will utilize the ultimate renewable resource, sunshine, to cost-effectively provide a needed food staple. Once funded, these bakeries can self-fund the expansion to additional locations.

Solar restaurants and bakeries

Articles in the media

See also

External links