Solar Cookers International (SCI) is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit, non-governmental organization that spreads solar cooking awareness and skills worldwide, particularly in areas with plentiful sunshine and diminishing sources of cooking fuel. SCI has been working in Africa since 1995 and encouraged thousands families in Africa to cook with the sun's energy, freeing women and children from the burdens of gathering wood and carrying it for miles. Tens of thousands of individuals and organizations from all over the world have learned about solar cooking through SCI's international programs, education resources, and information exchange network.

SCI sponsors Solar Cooking Archive Wiki, an internationally recognized Internet

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...

 resource for solar cooking information, and also publishes Solar Cooker Review. SCI won an Ashden Award in 2002 for their work with solar cookers in Kenya. SCI is headquartered in Sacramento, California, USA.

Focus

According to the their website, SCI's mission is to harness "the power of the sun to benefit people and the environment" by focusing in the following areas: Direct Service and Partnerships and Global Advocacy.

Values

In making decisions, Solar Cookers International is guided by the following values:

1. Industry Collegiality and Relationship
2. Credible Data and Industry Testing and Standards
3. Innovation
4. Environmental Improvement
5. Healthful Living Environments
6. Economic Opportunities
7. Gender Equity
8. Integrity and Fiscal Responsibility

Strategies

Areas of focus build strategies for an organization to follow:

1. A commitment to prioritize Global Advocacy.
2. A commitment to Solar Plus Cooking and Lighting.
3. A commitment to mobilize, lead and facilitate the global "Solar Plus" cooking movement through the SCWNetwork and Solar Plus Coalition.
4. A commitment to industry testing and standards.
5. A commitment to seek innovative marketing strategies and scale up capacity.
6. A commitment to prioritize three focus areas: Health- Environment- Economy.
7. An on- going commitment to improved technology.
8. A commitment to humanitarian efforts, disaster response.

Vision

Solar Cookers International promotes the use of solar thermal cooking technology through:

• Global advocacy
• Direct service
• "Solar Plus" partnerships with organizations that promote fuel efficient cooking and lighting

Their goal is to improve health, economies, and the environment throughout the sun-rich, fuel starved developing world.

Programs & Projects

Solar Cookers International's programs and projects fall into the following areas: Direct Service and Partnerships, Global Advocacy.

• Direct Service and Partnerships:

including promoting closer collaboration with United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 agencies. SCI was instrumental in the formation of the Solar Cookers International Association later renamed Solar Cookers World Network, which is an association of an estimated 100 non-governmental organizations and government agencies, and 160+ individuals promoting solar cooking, water pasteurizing, and food processing. SCI has hosted regional and international solar cooking conferences, most recently the Solar Cookers International Conference held in Granada Spain in 2006.

• Global Advocacy:

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The English wiki includes over 1500 articles categorized by country, who's who, NGOs, manufacturers and vendors, solar cooking basics, and solar cooker designs. Also included is information regarding related technologies such as heat-retention cooking; water pasteurizing

Pasteurization

Pasteurization is a process of heating a food, usually liquid, to a specific temperature for a definite length of time, and then cooling it immediately. This process slows microbial growth in food...

, solar food processing

Food processing

Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry...

, solar food drying, solar autoclaving

Autoclave

An autoclave is an instrument used to sterilize equipment and supplies by subjecting them to high pressure saturated steam at 121 °C for around 15–20 minutes depending on the size of the load and the contents. It was invented by Charles Chamberland in 1879, although a precursor known as the...

, and solar canning

Canning

Canning is a method of preserving food in which the food contents are processed and sealed in an airtight container. Canning provides a typical shelf life ranging from one to five years, although under specific circumstances a freeze-dried canned product, such as canned, dried lentils, can last as...

. In addition SCI publishes Solar Cooker Review three times a year.
For more information refugee camp work, refer to the Solar cooker article in Wikipedia.

History

Solar Cookers International originally called Solar Box Cookers International was founded in 1987 by several supporters residing in the sunny Central Valley of California. Among the founders were

• Bev Blum: first president and executive director of SCI from 1989–1999 and 2003-2006. She developed a mass-producible, foldable box cooker in 1992, and coordinated the development of the CooKit
  CooKit
  Solar Cookers International in Sacramento, California, 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...
  
   solar cooker. In 2009 she was the secretariat of the Solar Cookers World Network.
• Barbara Kerr: co-developer of the Kerr-Cole solar box cooker built from two nested cardboard boxes. She co-founded the Kerr-Cole Sustainable Living Center in Taylor
  Taylor, Arizona
  Taylor is a town in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. It was founded by Mormon settlers in January 1878, several months before the neighboring community of Snowflake, Arizona...
  
  , Arizona
  Arizona
  Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
  
  , USA. She received the "Women in Solar Energy" award from the American Solar Energy Society
  American Solar Energy Society
  The American Solar Energy Society is an association of solar professionals and advocates in the United States. Founded in 1954, ASES is dedicated to inspiring an era of energy innovation and speeding the transition toward a sustainable energy economy...
  
   in July, 2006.
• Bob Metcalf: professor of microbiology at California State University at Sacramento and was selected as the 2000-2001 Outstanding Teacher in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. He is well known for his work on solar water pasteurization
  Pasteurization
  Pasteurization is a process of heating a food, usually liquid, to a specific temperature for a definite length of time, and then cooling it immediately. This process slows microbial growth in food...
  
  .

SCI produced and distributed manuals describing construction and use of solar box style cookers. Also 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, USA in 1992; the National University of Costa Rica

National University of Costa Rica

National University of Costa Rica in Heredia is one of five public universities in the country. Over 12,000 students study at its main campus. In addition to undergraduate programs, it offers 16 Masters of Art degrees and is strong in ecology and education related coursework.- External links :*...

 in 1994; and the deemed university

Deemed University

Deemed university is a status of autonomy granted to high performing institutes and departments of various universities in India. This status of ‘Deemed-to-be-University’, is granted by Department of Higher Education, Union Human Resource Development Ministry, on the advice of the University Grants...

, 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

Districts of Kenya

The provinces of Kenya are subdivided into number of districts .- List of districts of Kenya :Following a High Court ruling in September 2009, there are 46 legal districts in Kenya :Coast Province:...

 district, Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

; in the Kakuma refugee camp

Kakuma

Kakuma town is located in Turkana District, in the northwestern region of Kenya. Kakuma is the Swahili word for "nowhere", epitomizing the seclusion of the area....

, Kenya; in the Aisha refugee camp, Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

; in various communities, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

; and in Dadaab

Dadaab

Dadaab is a semi-arid town in the North Eastern Province in Kenya. As of 2011, it hosts what is often described as the largest refugee camp in the world.-General:...

 refugee camp, Kenya. See Programs & Projects section above for a description of the Sunny Solutions program in Nyakach, Kenya. For information about refugee camp work in Darfur, Sudan, refer to the Solar cooker article in Wikipedia.

SCI supported the development of the CooKit

CooKit

Solar Cookers International in Sacramento, California, 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...

, a mass-producible, foldable solar cooker in the 1990s.

See also

• CooKit
  CooKit
  Solar Cookers International in Sacramento, California, 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...
  
   - an inexpensive, mass-producible, foldable, solar cooker developed by Solar Cookers International
• Solar cooker
  Solar cooker
  A solar cooker, or solar oven, is a device which uses the energy of sunlight to heat food or drink to cook it or sterilize it. High-tech versions, for example electric ovens powered by solar cells, are possible, and have some advantages such as being able to work in diffuse light. However at...
  
  s
• Water Pasteurization Indicator
  Water Pasteurization Indicator
  A water pasteurization indicator is a simple thermometer that indicates when water has reached pasteurization temperature and is safe to drink. It was invented by Fred Barrett and Dale Andreatta....
  
  a simple water pasteurization indicator developed by Solar Cookers International

External links

• SCI website
• The Solar Cookers World Network Wiki