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Petisos photo

The Petisos is a solar concentrator adapted to daily cooking at the scale of a single family. It is designed for maximal ease of use and contains a countertop over a set shelves. The focal point sits less than a meter off the ground and is integrated into the workspace. Outputting effectively 1000W in full sunlight, the Petisos can boil a liter of water in less then 15 minutes.

Two rotational axes allow concentration all day long by manually following the sun across the sky. The entire machine turns to match the azimuthal angle, while the reflector rotates to compensate for the angle of elevation.

The materials necessary to build a Petisos are simple and easy to find, usually as scrap. The reflector retains its parabolic shape thanks to a skeleton of rebar bent by hand. For the reflective surface, ordinary bathroom mirror works very well and is widely available in the northern hemisphere. We've also had good results with polished aluminum, survival covers, mylar and even aluminum foil. We never use any toxic epoxy, and reflectors made of mirror or polished aluminum (the two most used options) don't need any glue at all.

3D model of the Petisos

The complete construction guide for the Petisos is freely available... in French. (English version coming soon - sorry! Anyway, the measurements and diagrams should still be good enough for those who cant wait :) With a couple visits to a local junkyard and some scrap mirror, you can build a Petisos with about 20 euros!