The hottest 24" parabolic solar heating reflectors made . . .
Is it actually possible to condense sunlight into a focal point that exceeds the temperature of an open flame? And could that hot spot be large enough to safely cook food and Pasteurize water?
The answer is yes.
ClearDome Solar Thermal has discovered a very simple method of reaching flame temperatures without a flame--by significantly improving the design of our top-rated SolaReflex 600° parabolic cooking reflector. The SolaReflex 900 (seen solar cooking on snow at left) is ideal for everyday cooling at home, camping trips, boats, emergencies and use in third world countries.
We’ve found a more efficient way to condense focused, reflected sunlight into an even smaller, sharper 2-3” hot spot. This improvement increases radiant solar heating temperatures to over 900°F! (that’s 482°C) Instead of laminating our diffused 97.4% reflective SolaReflex foil to the 24” parabolic ABS dish blank, it’s now being bonded to the surface by a patented process that makes an even smoother and less diffused reflective surface than the 600.
It’s also more scratch and salt air resistant than previous models with the addition of an invisible protective coating, sacrificing only about 1% of the reflectivity, while preserving the outstanding .03 level of emissivity. Accelerated aging tests indicate a minimum 7-10 year outdoor life, with only minor loss of reflectivity. The 900 is not designed to be optically perfect. A slightly diffused surface spreads the hot spot diameter, making it safer to use and cook food. High temperature solar energy to heat conversion has, until now been an expensive and complicated process.
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called the ClearDome SolaReflex Pyramid Cooker/Pasteurizer, seen on the right. It's actually an enclosed panel cooker with an external adjustable SolaReflex reflector--the first of it's type--because it combines the best qualities of panel
and box cookers for faster cooking times and heat comparable to or better than most box cookers.
It's unique design allows most meals to be cooked without having to adjust it to the moving sun for unattended solar cooking. And no clear plastic bags are needed for trapping heat since the covered
pot is completely enclosed inside the pyramid shaped cooking container.
Besides being very lightweight, it's windproof on moderate wind days, unbreakable, easy to use, and the two sizes can be ordered in a collapsible or more affordable non-collapsible version shown in the photo. The collapsible configuration is only 1" thick when opened, for more portability and lower shipping costs. Questions? click here: cleardomesolar@sbcglobal.net
Our 900X reflectors are so mirror-like (photo at left), with only a 1”
diameter hot spot that radiant temperatures are hot enough to burn a hole
completely through our thick Blackflex aluminum foil in about a minute!
In the photo on the right, the 900X reflector is seen on the right half,
looking through the hole on the backside of the Blackflex. We recorded
a 1345°F (that’s 735°C) temperature at the hot spot. Aluminum
melts at 1220°F. 
Because of the extreme and sharp focused heat it’s nearly impractical for cooking food, but our 900X scientific parabolic heat generator is now being used for other purposes, such as solar thermal electric generation, scientific and medical uses, and classroom demonstrations. We're also testing a dual 900X parabolic that has a single focal point.
And we're now
selling an even hotter center focus metal 24" parabolic solar reflector
with a 6"
focal
point hot spot 1/4" round that reaches over 2,500 degrees F! It's also not designed for solar cooking because it will melt aluminum, copper
and brass and is designed for scientific/industrial/educational uses.
The calibrated Fluke thermometer shows 2,424 degrees F at the super bright
hot spot to the left, and the temp kept rising and maxed out the thermometer
at 2500F. It's called the SolaReflex
2500 Spun Parabolic because the inside of
the sturdy spun aluminum dish is highly polished, then specially coated
with our 97% reflective SolaReflex material. A patented hard transparent
protective coating is then applied for many years of outdoor use minimal
loss of reflectivity.
For more details and availability on the 2500 spun alumimun heat reflector, please click here to email questions to solar heating designer Deris Jeannette. Sorry, this extreme solar heating reflector is not available to the general public, but if your business or school needs to generate extremely high temperatures from sunlight for scientific, survival or educational uses, it is available to order for $295 once you are pre approved by email.
This outstanding solar cooking reflector is so hot, you can actually make charcoal smoke inside a pot or pan when placed next to food in an aluminum foil holder! We use a clear glass lid on a black aluminum pot to let the concentrated reflected solar energy directly heat the food and smoke the wood. You get authentic wood barbecue flavor using only one charcoal briquette or your favorite type of wood. Solar cooked food has always been considered the tastiest, and now the flavor can have that outdoor cooking taste-- without even striking a match.
You can easily fry bacon with the SolaReflex 900; cook eggs, bake bread, cook rice and vegetables, and Pasteurize foul water. A one-pound steak, fish or chicken takes about 35 minutes to cook rare and 45 minutes for it to be browned and well done on a sunny day. It's like having both a stove and an oven fueled only by free and pure solar energy--the sun! Slow solar cooking now is a thing of the past with the 900. Browing food is easy by using a black aluminum pot and a clear glass lid.
Wind is not a bother for the 900 because of the rigid dish and support base construction. We've cooked in 30 MPH winds by placing the pot under our Clear Dome pot cover, or inside our Clear Box oven, shown below. Try cooking with a gas stove outdoors on a windy day and after about 5-10 MPH winds, the flames blow out. Delivery is normally 2-3 weeks after your order is confirmed through PayPal.
This specially designed 8.5 pound oval shaped, unbreakable reflecting dish assembly is made to condense and reflect solar energy downward about 16" away on to the black metal cooking container, as the photo shows. The dish design is unlike any other parabolic cooker because of the offset low point on the dish that creates the hot spot below the center line. Little or no reflected energy is lost because of pot shadows, so combined with a superior small parabolic design, the 96% diffused reflectivity, and a sturdy anodized aluminum support base, it’s at least 15%-20% more efficient that perfect centered parabolic dishes.
It's also easier to pack for travel, set up and use.
Sun adjustments with most
parabolic cookers can be a delicate operation so food doesn't spill from
the pot sitting on a balanced stand. A larger, heavier support stand is
required to prevent tipping on windy days.
Also, the user has a greater
risk of getting burned by food spillage or hot spot skin and eye exposure
during the sun adjustments using conventional parabolic cookers..
As you can see, cooking pots and pans sit on the 900 reflector base where the focused sun energy can land on the pot and away from the user. And, unlike other parabolic cookers, the 900 temperatures can be easily adjusted. This has heating temps comparable to a toaster oven when the pot is close to the reflector with a 7" hotspot, but more like a high temperature gas stove when it's at the 16" focal point, with a 2-3" wide hot spot.
In summer months when the
sun is high overhead, we suggest elevating the pot 8-12" for maximum heating,
as the right 
photo
shows. We used a clear polycarbonate container below the pot, but you can
use an overturned large pot or metal box. Notice the focused bright hot
spot on the side of the pot. A high sun angle reduces heat gain and
extends cooking times when cooking on the stand below.
No
heavy counter balance is required to offset the weight of the pot, so the
reflector is screwed to the sturdy collapsible base with only two adjustable
thumbscrews.The thumbscrews attach the reflector to the base support legs
and make it easy to set up and adjust the reflector up or down as the sun
moves. Only one or two sun adjustments are necessary for most meals. Wind
resistance is increased by a tightening of the wing nuts. A slight
nudge to the left on the back of the base, and a slight pivot up or down
movement of the reflector is all that's needed for perfect and easy alignment
every 30 minutes of cooking time. That means you can warm up to five gallons
of shower or dish washing water, or melt that much ice or snow in
black metal pots during midday heating.
We suggest care and caution because it's so hot
Since all food cooking requires high temperatures we must caution the user to exercise care, common sense and practice safety as you would around any stove or oven because the hot spot focal point can reach temperatures as hot as a flame. Children should not use these reflectors without direct adult supervision. The cook or anyone moving the pot should use sunglasses and wear cooking mitts or a towel to reduce the chance of unexpected burns from the pot or hot spot.
Meat, potatoes, chicken
or fish will brown or even blacken when cooked in pots with clear lids
unless it's
turned about every 15-20 minutes because it’s much like stove cooking,
but all the heat comes from above. A single smoldering charcoal briquette
inside this pot with a glass lid (right photo) adds the delicious BBQ smoke
flavor to chicken fajita. The 900 will melt plastic and burn leaves
or wood that are held in the hot spot for more than 5 seconds, so only
metal or tempered glass pots and pans should be used. Short 2-second
duration exposure to skin in the 900 hot spot will feel quite hot but not
normally cause burns, however.
And, the reflector is safer to use on concrete, earth, or non-burnable surfaces because even the unfocused reflected sunlight is quite hot if the reflector is turned away from the pot. Questions? click here to send solar heating designer Deris Jeannette your email.
With all metal pots including the lid, instead of heating the bottom of the pot, the reflector side of the pot absorbs and transforms the focused solar energy into heat that is then absorbed by the food or water inside the pot. Black pots with clear lids heat faster and will brow meat, as in the photo above. Evaporating food moisture or 1/4" of water helps to steam the food.
This parabolic cooker has such a high level of full spectrum solar reflectivity it will even heat food or water to temperatures above 150 degrees F on light overcast or partly cloudy days when there is little or no wind. That's perfect for reheating leftovers or making coffee and tea.
We prefer using thin black aluminum pots with clear glass lids to cook nearly all foods. Other dark pots and pans can be used, but with lower heat generation. The concentrated reflected light is so intense that occasionally some green vegetables will turn white on top unless they are covered with water or a lid.
The heat level and size of the hot spot focal point can be adjusted by moving the pot closer to the reflector, which de-focuses the light and spreads the heat, which lowers the temperature. This method is suggested when baking bread or large cuts of meat. A pound of frozen (15-30°F) boneless chicken breasts or fish will take about 10 minutes to defrost, then fully cook in another 40-50 minutes using the glass lid on a black pan. Raw vegetables will take 5-10 minutes longer to soften since they contain less protein.
While low angle early morning and late afternoon sunlight make it impossible to cook with most box solar cookers because of shadows inside the box, the SolaReflex 900 will start cooking meals or heating water 30 minutes after sunrise. At the end of the day, meals can be cooked up to two hours before sunset. Winter is actually the best cooking season for the 900 because of the low sun angle and the sun's closer proximity to earth.
In high mid-day summer
sun, the maximum level of heat can be achieved by placing our Clear Box
oven, a clear container pot riser, provided on request, or a 9" metal box
or pot under the pot to elevate it more in direct line with the sun's high
angle. Since this reflector is designed as an "offset" oval reflector,
it will still generate ample concentrated heat energy when the pot is sitting
in the normal position on the base.
It,
and the included anodized aluminum reflector base is wind resistant in
gales over 40 miles per hour and virtually unbreakable. It can withstand
almost any outdoor weather conditions but strong blowing sand and large
hail. We suggest using a cover over the reflector when not in use to prevent
blowing wind debris damage. It will cook for many years without spending
a dime on fuel. To order a black ABS
24" parabolic reflector blank click here.
To order the SolaReflex 900 dish without the stand, click here. Bulk discount
dish orders are also available.
When
traveling, the reflector can be detached from the base support (photo on
left), by unscrewing the wing nuts and screws. The sturdy legs collapse
and it measures less than 3” thick, so it’s easy to pack or ship.
With sunglasses on, the user can focus the extremely bright hot spot on the right backside of the pot, then once the sun's reflection has traveled to the left side in about 30 minutes, repeat the same movement to insure maximum heating.
Besides the finished assembled 900 parabolic dishes with the base supports, individual ABS 24" uncoated reflector blanks and SolaReflex coated 900 reflective dishes are available without support stands for hobbyists, students, scientists and developing nations that could assemble them on site to reduce labor costs.
Our anodized aluminum support bases can also be sold individually on request or the user could make their own similar looking base. SolaReflex 97.4% reflective foil can be purchased separately from our Amazon order pages.
Optional clear unbreakable heat containers for cold, windy day cooking
Few sunlit days are too cold or too windy for cooking when either our unbreakable polycarbonate Clear dome pot cover, below, or the Clear box oven on right, is used for cooking. By adding either heat resistant cover, your pot will heat faster on partly cloudy, windy or cold sunny days, even in the snow!
The clear covers eliminate excessive heat loss caused by wind or cold air. It is the best way to create a greenhouse effect around your cooking pot without messing with flimsy plastic bags. They also trap heat and provide insulation to keep the pot and food warm when it is removed from the cooking reflector.
Both food-safe polycarbonate
containers can replace plastic cooking bags and increase heating temperatures,
despite wind or cold air. They will also work as a small size water distiller
and purify any polluted water, and 
should
be used when cooking bread or larger meals.
Email
Deris for more details or questions.
Up to four quart round pots or small baking pans will fit inside the 8" x 13" x 11" space of the Clear box oven (shown at right), which comes with a removable snap down lid. The clear dome pot cover on the left measures 12" round by 7" high and has a chrome metal handle that stays cool. A good quality four-quart non-stick coated black camping pot is shown under the pot cover. A similar two-quart pot is also available. A three quart aluminum pot with a clear glass lid is shown inside the clear box oven.
The camping pots cost under
$15 each and can be ordered from the Clear
box web page.
Both of our crystal clear,
heavy duty solar heat containers sit on the reflector base of the SolaReflex
900 and create much higher surrounding ambient heat temperatures (nearly
than three times the outside air temperature) surrounding the heating container
while the incoming concentrated and front side direct solar energy heats
the pot. Click
here to jump to our clear box oven web
pages for more details and to order.
By using either of these heat retention products with any our ClearDome parabolic reflectors, you create a hybrid solar cooker that combines the best attributes of the box oven insulation and parabolic reflector high heat generation.
Questions? click
here to email solar heating designer Deris Jeannette.
Please browse our home
page at www.cleardomesolar.com
for more information about all of our unique solar heating products, including
solar water heating pads for outdoor spas, solar forced air heaters, thermal
fabrics and upcoming, our new reheatable Sun Pads that store solar heat
energy for personal body comfort anytime.
Solar air heaters · Thermal barrier fabric and Solar cooling panels/ heating drapes · SolaReflex parabolic solar cookers · Hot tub/spa water heating pads
SolarReflex reflective/daylighting material (formerly SolarFlex) · Blackflex heat absorber foil · NEW! Rechargable Sun Heating Pad
ClearDome Solar
Thermal
Ingenious
solar thermal products for everyday living, emergencies & survival
© 1999-2007,
ClearDome Solar Thermal, 3368 Governor Dr, 153-F San Diego, CA 92122
U.S.A.
619/990-7977
or toll free 888/277-7547 x3427
cleardomesolar@sbcglobal.net
12/15/06
