Solar cooking is a relatively simple technology but it has the potential to make a big difference, not only for the individuals involved but also to the problem of global warming, as it offers the opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions significantly by reducing the use of firewood.

For the individual, especially in sunny areas of developing countries, solar cooking offers a number of advantages:
- lower cost
- saving time otherwise wasted for wood gathering
- improved security for women and girls, as it is normally their job to gather firewood
- avoiding the health risks caused by smoke inhalation.

Many different systems of solar cookers have been introduced. However most systems suffer from relatively poor efficiency. Reflector based systems with higher efficiency need regular adjustments to follow the sun and are difficult to handle because the cooking pot is normally placed somewhere in the centre of the mirror.

The solar cooker developed by Sun2Steam overcomes these disadvantages by producing steam as heat transfer medium. This allows the design of a split system where the thermal solar collector can be placed at some distance (e.g. on the roof) from the place of cooking. The solar collector does not require reflectors which need to be adjusted to follow the sun.

A presentation by Jo regarding the Sun2Steam solar cooker is available for download.

http://www.sun2steam.com.au/solarcooker/cooker.pdf

It was held that the ISES - AP 2008, the 3rd conference by the International Solar Energy Society, the 46th ANZSES (Australian and New Zealand Solar Energy Society) conference