SOLAR COOKER from an Abandoned Satellite Dish

In many parts of the world outdated, abandoned satellite dishes clutter the landscape. They are abandoned because they have been replaced by much smaller dishes.
In early 2004 a neighbor gave us the dish at the left, just to get rid of it. We removed the signal-collecting apparatus suspended at the focal point in the center of the dish, and the metal webbing between the ribs. Then we were ready to start adding things.

For $27.50 a 50-ft x 20-inch roll of aluminum flashing was purchased from the local hardware store. After carefully measuring the spaces between the satellite-dish's ribs, with tin-snips I cut out 16 triangular aluminum wedges. The dish was factory-made with each of its ribs having slots along their entire lengths, so we were able to fit the triangular wedges in place by sliding them into their slots. While I cut the wedges, a couple of friends positioned the wedges. It took us about half a day to do the whole thing, with the most time-consuming and difficult part being positioning the wedges.

At the left you see how we built a platform where pots, skillets and the like could be placed during the baking process. The platform was constructed from an upside-down, metal-wire frame used by florists to hold standing flower arrangements of the kind seen at funerals. Then an aluminum tray salvaged from an abandoned refrigerator was attached to that frame, with metal clamps.

The resulting creation boils water, fries eggs in a skillet in ten minutes, and bakes a perfect skillet of cornbread in less than half an hour.

Total cost: $27.50. We had the flower stand and clamps on hand.

WARNING: This is a powerful apparatus. It can surely damage eyes, and I know from experience that it can make painful burns. Notice how I am grimacing in the picture. If you should accidentally put your face at the light's focal point, your vision might be impaired permanently! http://www.backyardnature.net/j/solardsh.htm

CCC: Instead of a cooker, one could build/construct and place a small box like BOILER to heat hot water. A water pump and hose (that can handle hot water) can pump to a very well insulated tank (for example, an old hot water heater). One could put the dish base on a tracker system, to track the SUN. This way one could have SOLAR heated water!