Through field experience and research, SHE perceived the need for a mass-produced solar oven that was durable, efficient, easy-to-use, portable and commercially viable. After years of research the HotPot design was completed in 2004.
It evolved from the “panel” oven invented by Dr. Roger Bernard and refined by Solar Cookers International. The science and engineering were accomplished by the Florida Solar Energy Center. The reflector was designed by Glen Newman of Energy Laboratories, Inc., Jacksonville, Florida. In 2006 tests to re-evaluate the capacity of the HotPot to effectively heat water and food were performed in Burkina Faso, The Gambia and Senegal and confirm again that the HotPot is an effective and efficient solar cooker.
Currently, the HotPot is manufactured only in Mexico by a private business, in cooperation with the Mexican Nature Conservation Fund, a non-profit. The manufacturer sells the “fully loaded” HotPot package for standard commercial distribution in the U.S. and Mexico, and on a more economical basis for bulk developing world sales, via SHE Inc. Both organizations are actively developing a variety of strategies to make the HotPot available to developing world consumers at a price they can afford.
Link to HotPot/SHE website – http://www.she-inc.org/hotpot.php
