Comparative experimental assessment of locally manufactured and commercial solar cookers under outdoor conditions in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo

In many Sub-Saharan African cities, household cooking remains heavily dependent on charcoal. This contributes to deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and adverse health impacts. Despite the region’s high solar energy potential, adoption of solar cooking technologies is limited due to cost, accessibility, and limited availability of locally adapted solutions. Furthermore, standardised experimental comparisons between locally manufactured solar cookers and commercial systems are scarce, especially in Central Africa. This study aimed to evaluate the technical performance of solar cookers made from locally available and recycled materials, comparing them with commercially available solar cookers under real outdoor operating conditions in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo. Four solar cookers were developed using locally available materials and recycled reflective components: two box-type cookers, one parabolic cooker, and one hybrid configuration. Their performance was then compared to that of four commercial solar cookers (SK14, Yamo Dudo, Fornelia, and Brother). Performance evaluation was conducted according to the Solar Cookers International Performance Evaluation Process (SCI-PEP), using standardised cooking power as the primary indicator of performance. The results revealed substantial differences among the cooker technologies. Commercial parabolic cookers achieved the highest standardised performance. The SK14 reached 185.06 W, followed by the Yamo Dudo at 124.31 W. Among the locally manufactured systems, the parabolic cooker achieved 113.22 W. Box-type cookers exhibited lower standardised performance, ranging from 25.57 to 31.77 W, while the hybrid cooker reached 26.95 W. Reflectance measurements showed that recycled aluminum-based materials can provide suitable optical properties for solar concentration. This supports their use in manufacturing low-cost solar cookers. While locally manufactured cookers do not match the thermal performance of commercial parabolic systems, their use of locally available and recycled materials demonstrates the feasibility of developing solar cooking technologies adapted to resource-constrained environments. These findings suggest that locally manufactured solar cookers could serve as complementary clean cooking technologies in rapidly growing urban areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. Solar cooker prototypes were developed using recycled and locally available materials. Performance was evaluated using the Solar Cookers International PEP protocol. Box-type and hybrid cookers balance safety, efficiency, and fabrication simplicity. Local materials enable low-cost designs suitable for resource-constrained contexts.