Solar Cookers International (SCI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit,

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

that works to improve human and environmental health by supporting the expansion of effective carbon-free solar cooking in world regions of greatest need. SCI leads through advocacy, research, and strengthening the capacity of the global solar cooking movement. SCI has consultative status with the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...

(ECOSOC) and was founded in 1987.Solar Cookers International
". ''Business Entity Search''. California Secretary of State. Accessed on February 1, 2016.

Recognition

Solar Cookers International won an

Ashden Award Ashden is a London-based charity that works in the field of sustainable energy and Regional development, development. Its work includes the annual Ashden Awards, advocacy and research in the field of sustainable energy, and mentoring and practica ...

in 2002 for their work with solar cookers in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. In August 2006, SCI was the winner of the World

Renewable Energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

Award. SCI was named as a winner in the Keeling Curve Prize for sustainable planet solutions in August 2021. SCI won for its work “improving human and environmental health by supporting the expansion of effective carbon-free solar cooking in world regions of greatest need” in the Social and Cultural Pathways category. SCI has also been honored by entities such as the California State Legislature and the Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution.

History

Solar Cookers International was founded in 1987 as Solar Box Cookers International. Barbara Kerr and Sherry Cole partnered with other supporters to form this organization. SCI produced and distributed manuals describing the construction and use of solar box-style cookers. They became advocates of how solar cooking could be incorporated into development and relief agency programs. SCI's role evolved into networking with other solar cooking organizations worldwide. They hosted forums for dialog including co-sponsoring three international solar cooking conferences with the University of the Pacific, US, in 1992, the

National University of Costa Rica The National University of Costa Rica (in Spanish, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, abbreviated UNA) is one of five public universities in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. The main campus is located in the city of Heredia. Acc ...

in 1994 and the

deemed university In India, a deemed university or deemed-to-be-university is an accreditation granted to higher educational institutions by the Ministry of Education. According to the ministry's definition, the accreditation indicates, "an Institution of higher ...

, Coimbatore, India in 1997. SCI also administered a series of solar cooking field projects. Since 1995, SCI has managed or co-managed solar cooking projects in the Nyakach district,

; in the

Kakuma refugee camp Kakuma Refugee Camp is a refugee camp located in northwestern Turkana County, Kenya. It was established in 1992 to host unaccompanied minors who had fled the war in Sudan and from camps in Ethiopia. The camp is situated in the second poorest re ...

, Kenya; in the Aisha refugee camp,

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

; in various communities,

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

; and in

Dadaab Dadaab () is a semi-arid town in Garissa County, Kenya. It is the site of a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR base hosting 426,822 registered refugees and asylum seekers as of 28 February 2025, in four refugee camp, camps (Daga ...

refugee camp, Kenya. SCI supported the development of the CooKit, a mass-producible, foldable solar cooker in the 1990s.

Programs and projects

In efforts to promote solar cooking worldwide, SCI leads through advocacy, research, and building capacity of the solar cooking movement. SCI releases multiple publications a year, disseminating news in the solar cooking sector. To help build capacity for solar cooking, SCI offers a wide range of free online educational resources on its website. SCI has hosted regional and international solar cooking conferences including the 6th SCI World Conference 2017 in Vadodara, Gujarat, India, and the SCI Regional Convention 2015 in Sacramento, California, USA. SCI also attends and presents at high-level events such as

2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, coun ...

(COP26),

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the principal organs of the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gen ...

(UNCSW), and the CONSOLFOOD conference to promote and advocate for solar cooking. SCI also runs the Solar Cookers International Association, a group of academics, decision-makers, designers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, innovators, advocates, humanitarians, environmentalists, and NGOs working to promote solar thermal cooking worldwide. To demonstrate the impacts of solar cooking, SCI gathers and analyzes solar cooking data. The creation of country-specific economic-impact summaries and a map of the global distribution of solar cookers help deliver evidence-based results about the advantages of solar cooking. SCI estimates there are more than 4 million solar cookers in use worldwide.

Performance Evaluation Process

Solar Cookers International spearheads the solar cooker Performance Evaluation Process (PEP). The PEP testing program is an objective, scientific process to evaluate solar cooker performance. Evaluation of the performance, user experience, and quality of solar cookers was identified as a high priority by the attendees of the 5th SCI World Conference in Sacramento, California, USA, 2014. The process and instrumentation were presented and demonstrated at the 6th SCI World Conference in Gujarat, India, January 2017. The SCI PEP testing program is intended for increasing the use of high-quality solar cookers worldwide. PEP test stations automate a protocol that harmonizes with guidelines published by the

International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. M ...

(ISO). The program is based on the ASAE S580.1 protocol for Testing and Reporting Solar Cooker Performance. SCI currently has testing centers in the USA, Kenya, and Nepal.

Solar Cooking Wiki

SCI sponsors and maintains a solar cooking wiki which includes over 1700 solar cooking articles categorized by country, NGO, manufacturer, and solar cooker designs. This wiki operates as a virtual community collaborating to improve and disseminate solar thermal technology for its positive impact on health and

environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

. Also included is information regarding related technologies such as heat-retention cooking, water

pasteurization In food processing, pasteurization (American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), also pasteurisation) is a process of food preservation in which packaged foods (e.g., milk and fruit juices) are treated wi ...

, solar

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the mak ...

, solar

food drying Food drying is a method of food preservation in which food is dried (dehydrated or desiccated). Drying inhibits the growth of bacteria, yeasts, and mold through the removal of water. Dehydration has been used widely for this purpose since an ...

, solar autoclaving, and solar

canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although under ...

CooKit

SCI developed the ''CooKit'' as an adaptation of a cooker designed by Dr. Roger Bernard in France. The cooker consists of a foil-lined cardboard reflector with a dark pot inside a plastic bag. This simple mechanism converts hundreds of watts of sunlight into heat and can cook one or two pots of food at a time. Cardboard, aluminium foil, and plastic bags for well over 10,000 solar cookers have been donated to the Iridimi Refugee Camp and Touloum Refugee Camps in

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

by the combined efforts of the

Jewish World Watch Jewish World Watch (JWW) is a non-profit humanitarian organization dedicated to helping survivors of genocide and mass atrocities around the world. History Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis and Janice Kamenir-Reznik established Jewish World Watch ( ...

, the Dutch foundation KoZon, and SCI. The refugees construct the cookers themselves, using the donated supplies and locally purchased Arabic gum, and use them for midday and evening meals. The goal of this project was to reduce the

Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...

i women's need to leave the relative safety of the camp to gather firewood, which exposed them to a high risk of being beaten, raped, kidnapped, or murdered.Tugend, Tom. ''Jewish World Watch Eyes National Stage''. Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. June 16, 2006, accessed May 29, 2007.
/ref> It has also significantly reduced the amount of time women spend tending open fires each day, with the results that they are healthier and they have more time to grow vegetables for their families and make handicrafts for export.

References

External links

*
SCI hosts the Solar Cookers International Network wiki

Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance report

Charity Navigator rating
{{authority control Climate change organizations based in the United States Nature conservation organizations based in the United States Environmental organisations based in Kenya Food science institutes Non-profit organizations based in California Renewable energy organizations based in the United States Solar thermal energy Sustainability organizations Food technology organizations 501(c)(3) organizations Organizations established in 1987