Subject: THE ROLLING SOLAR KITCHEN

About one week ago, a new mobile solar kitchen has been presented to the 
public by the group ULOG. it is a car trailer with solar (and gas-) cooking 
facilities for up to 50 people! It also contains dishes, water and 
everything you need in a kitchen. it's called the rolling solar kitchen (die 
rollende sonnenkueche). the whole kitchen/trailer can be rented in 
Switzerland or southern Germany for parties, fairs, and so on. The whole 
trailer is very nicely built to have a 'professional touch'.

For solar cooking, there are two parabolic mirror cookers 
('Schaeffler-cookers') tracking the sun, one of them by a mechanical 
clockwork, the other by solar cells and a little motor. Each mirror 
focalises on a fixed cooking place at the side of the trailer. So the cook 
is working from inside the trailer (only the bottom half of the trailer is 
solid, the upper half can be removed, exept for a roof for shadowing.) The 
two cookers are amazingly powerful: at least 800W each and the focal 
temperature exeeds 600 degrees centigrade! We did pancakes 'in no time'.

Additionally, there is one ULOG- solar box cooker on the trailer (for cakes 
and cookies after lunch!).

For transport, both mirrors, the box cooker and everything else can be 
stored inside the trailer.

First experience report: We used the kitchen four times now. 2 days were 
rainy; the gas cookers worked well and the roof was tight... The two other 
days were sunny and the cookers worked very well. On the menue: pancakes 
with 'ratatouille' (italien vegatable dish), polenta with gorgonzola-sauce, 
indian rice-dishes.

The cooker will be used and shown every monday, wendesday and friday until 
the end of July on the marketplace in Berne, not far away from the Swiss 
governement! Right after this, there is an event called 'solare 
landsgemeinde' from August 1st to 3rd in Mettmenstetten near Zuerich, where 
the rolling kitchen is again in use. 

So, to everyone in the group: If you happen to live in or near Switzerland, 
why not coming to Berne ? If you don't happen to live here (which is highly 
probable), why not building another rolling solar kitchen for your area ???

good luck! Mitch

(MICHAEL.GOETZ(A)IMT.UNINE.CH)

p.s. the e-mail for renting the kitchen is: ULOG(A)KFE.UNIZH.CH
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Subject: Community Solar Cookers Using Scheffler Reflectors

A very interesting article has been published in the latest issue (2/97) of the
CADDET Renewable Energy Newsletter:

TITLE: Community Solar Cookers Using Scheffler Reflectors

SUMMARY:
Solar energy has been used for cooking for many years, with various designs
being employed in domestic applications. The development by a Swiss company of
the "Scheffler" reflector, a parabolic reflector with a flexible curvature and
fixed focal area, has made solar cooking a reality in community kitchens
catering for hundreds of people. The technology has been developed in close
co-operation with the intended users in Africa and Asia, using locally available
materials and construction techniques.

This article is also available on the Internet (as a PDF format file) from the
CADDET WWW site:

http://www.caddet.co.uk/