Winterizing and Use of a Solar Box Cooker on the Island of Crete, Greece

This study investigated the performance of a winterized inclined window solar box cooker (SBC) designed for cooking of foodstuff during the 2 months on either side of the winter solstice (21st December, northern hemisphere) in the White mountains of Crete Greece (35.31˚N, 24.31˚E, altitude of 150 m). In order to assess the performance of the SBC, the energy required for cooking of whole liquid eggs is calculated and compared with the performance of non-winterized SBC at the same location (27th July 2024). For both SBC measurements, the energy required for cooking of whole liquid eggs without water was between 0.53 ± 0.06 kJ∙g−1 for a solar irradiance between 873 and 1004 W∙m−2. Although the winterized SBC can only work for a few consecutive sunshine days in February, it has the potential to operate between violent storms that bring down overhead electrical lines and disrupt road transport links. In this short, but challenging, period people still need to eat and have access to clean drinking water. Hence a ready-to-use winterized SBC enables remote isolated communities to become self-sufficient in the short-term using free sunshine energy.