Haines Solar Cookers

Last edited: 17 April 2024

Haines Solar Cookers operates from Del Mar, California, USA, and was founded by Roger Haines. The company represents the culmination of his design development of solar panel cookers and cooking accessories. Roger has been a long time advocate of solar cooking, having made many trips to East Africa, working to promote the solar cooker market and provide better cooking solutions for those living in refugee camps.

Roger is a board member of Solar Household Energy, a Washington, D.C., USA based promoter of solar cooking, and also a member of the Solar Cookers International Association. He is also on the Board of San Diego based Alliance for African Assistance, and is Rotary Foundation Chair of the San Diego Rotary Club 33. Roger has been designing and making solar cookers since 2013.

News[]

May 2023: Recognition and recommendations received for the Haines 2.0 panel cooker

Lorena Harp tiny Haines, 2-23-23 — Lorena Harp builds a scaled down Haines 1 cooker, *Photo credit: Lorena Harp*

February 2023: A smaller Haines - Roger Haines reports that Lorena Harp has created a scaled down version the Haines 1 panel cooker. According to Lorena, it cooks well, and fits more compact size requirements.

February 2023: A multi-day solar cooker construction and use workshop took place in Eldoret Kenya. It became a reality through the efforts of a number of supporting individuals, non-profit organizations, and manufacturers. The solar panel cooker materials were provided by Haines Solar Cookers, with general funding by the Rotary Club of San Diego. Solar Education Project founders, Mary Buchenic and Jennifer Gasser wrote workbooks and translated them into Swahili for the participants. Additional project support was provided by Solar Household Energy. The workshop leader was Grace Chepkemei, who was assisted by local solar cooking advocate Camily Wedende. Participants were excited about the training, and surprised at the variety and excellent taste of the foods they prepared.

Haines_Solar_Cooking_Workshop_in_Eldoret,_Kenya_2022-2 — Haines Solar Cooking Workshop in Eldoret, Kenya 2022-2

April 2022: Updated Haines 1 - Roger Haines reports there will be an updated version of the Pop Open Haines 1 solar cooker by June 2022, which, with a larger reflector, is 35% more powerful and more corrosion resistant. The Haines 1 is a more affordable option to the Haines 2.0. Read more...

January 2022: Focus groups in refugee camps - Roger Haines reports that Haines Solar Cookers has been organizing three simultaneous “focus group” projects for 10 women in each of three refugee camps: Dadaab and Kakuma (in Kenya) and Palabek Refugee Community (in Uganda). Materials to make about 250 Haines 2.0 “pop-open” cookers are already in each Camp. These are the original “wrinkly” MPET rolls that I imported into Kenya in 2014, so we must tape three pieces together to make the new one-piece “pop-open” design. We will not order new one-piece reflectors until we obtain reports from the focus groups. The Alliance for African Assistance-Kenya has identified and will soon hire the lead trainers, who are themselves refugees well-connected with each Camp. We will start small and make sure we have the right design and the right partners in each camp before scaling up.

January 2020: Haines 2.0 Solar Cookers for Refugees in Uganda - Thirty-three women in the Palabek Refugee Community in northern Uganda received Haines 2.0 Solar Cookers and were extensively trained in how to use them. The project was organized by the Gulu-based Alliance for African Assistance in partnership with the African Refugee Education Project, the San Diego Rotary Club, Solar Household Energy and the Solar Connect Association of Uganda. The goal is to establish 33 women in the community as long-term solar cooking enthusiasts. Three of the women will be selected by their peers as to conduct periodic surveys to evaluate the long term use and adoption of the cookers, and the possibility of establishing a sustainable solar cooker enterprise in the community. Main article: Refugee camps