Parabolic Solar Oven

Back in fall of 2019, I got to work on this awesome parabolic solar oven... Basically, my team and I went down to the recycled parts center in Boulder and picked up a concrete mixing part, lamp, a bowl, and some foil tape and tried to make a smooth dish for the sun to reflect its rays off of. In retrospect, while our curve wasn't too bad, it certainly wasn't the smooth parabola that the sun was looking for; we should've found a satellite dish to tape instead of a crude mixing of cheap parts.

Regardless, we built a stand to support our odd contraption, and a two-member wooden stand used to support a metal bar from which we could hang our pot. I think the inspiration may have lied with roast pigs over the spit, hunter-gatherer style.

What came together was a pretty cool solar oven, used to make a corn pasta dish. Unfortunately, the weather turned out to be pretty cool and windy (as Boulder is prone to be) the week of our testing, and quite cloudy. Our parabolic solar oven was quite susceptible to heat loss by the wind, but still a fun build. Next time, we will factor in the wind and environmental factors specific to Boulder when considering design.