Concentrated Cooker- Prototype One
Description of the problem
The basic insulated box oven has been the primary foundation of Amanecer's work since inception; however, we have been interested in producing a simple and effective concentrating cooker capable of achieving high temperatures on a cooking surface. Such a cooker would allow for the solar cooking of tortillas, fried dishes, and grilled foods which are inherently incompatible with oven-based cooking. A subteam of the Fall 2009 group conceived a novel design concept that was intended to be powerful, user-friendly and simpler to construct than comparable existing designs. One of the primary goals of this semester was to complete the few remaining construction steps needed for the first prototype and conduct testing on the validity of the design concept and the performance of the prototype.
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Before field testing could begin, several finishing steps needed to be completed in the construction of the Solar Fire prototype. These included: 
- Building a shutter system on a sliding track to control solar radiation through the cooking hole
- Covering vulnerable surfaces with sheet metal cladding in order to reflect stray radiation and eliminate the danger of overheating and combustion of structural components
- Devising a pulley system to allow adjustment of the reflector array to accommodate varying solar elevations
- Covering the primary and secondary reflectors with mylar to enhance reflectivity
- Adding a reflective back panel in order to protect the cook from any stray radiation coming from the reflectors
- Adding an indicator attachment to the reflector assembly that allows users to determine whether its angle is properly adjusted for solar elevation; this is done by ensuring that the wooden post casts no shadow upon its plywood base
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