Shamsi

Solar cooking made local

Shamsi is a community-driven solution for clean cooking, built exclusively from locally available, health-safe materials and applies simple mechanisms. It is a low-cost solar oven, cooker and dryer, that uses direct solar radiation as a renewable energy source, hence the name “Shamsi” (شمسى ), the Arabic adjective for sunny, sun-bathed, or from the sun. Shamsi upholds local baking and cooking traditions, while making clean energy accessible in rural areas.

By replacing the widespread practice of burning mixed wastes and the excessive use of biomass to fuel traditional cookers, Shamsi significantly reduces carbon emissions. Households are at lower risk of severe respiratory and cancerous diseases caused by smoke and fire. One module saves a household up to 75% of energy costs after the first year. The low-tech solar solution can be easily produced and assembled by locals across African countries, integrating local knowledge and building know-how. This promotes local production but also secures gender-equal income opportunities, empowering women towards self-sufficiency and ensuring food security, especially in low-income rural or urban districts.

From Egypt to Tanzania -
Solar Cooking within the Tanzanian context

Shamsi was first developed and tested in close collaboration with local communities, specifically women, in multiple Southern Egyptian villages. Currently, it is being applied and tested in Tanzania with additional in collaboration with the CAN-TZ research and innovation team. Material tests in local wood and clay workshops are being carried out and documented under the lead of the product designer and innovator of Shamsi, Mira Gayed. Being built from locally available, health-safe materials, and applying simple, low-tech mechanisms, Shamsi can be easily produced and assembled by locals. This secures gender-equal income opportunities, especially in the rural community and commits to making ecosystems and communities on land more resilient and self-sufficient.

More information under:
www.shamsi. eco