My prototype reflected that there are several areas needed for further improvement and careful consideration. Our original idea was that the sun would hit the solar panels, which would reflect, thus transferring solar energy into heat energy. The inside of the “oven” would be covered with aluminum foil, which provided further heat and insulation material would be used to keep heat inside. Nevertheless, since we chose to create an oven with an open top, we did not consider that there might be too much open space; winds could sweep away any heat that has been accumulated. Furthermore, we did not account for weather and temperature changes throughout the year. During summer, the temperature is hot and the sunlight is quite sharp, thus cookies can be easily warmed. Whereas in winter, there is less sunlight and low temperature, thus cookies are hard to warm. Moreover, during windy days, since the oven is made out of cardboard which is very light, the cooker is easily blown away. However, a strength of my prototype is that it shows all of the existing problems with our design. Because we chose a larger box, we noticed that there is too much open space. Also, because the base of the oven is made of cardboard, we then noticed that we need to increase the weight of our prototype.

Not only did we receive feedback from our experiments, we also received feedback from our peers. They have suggested for us to add solar panels instead of solely relying on geometry to calculate the best angle of refraction and to use aluminum foil to reflect the solar energy. This suggestion helped us reserve and keep solar energy more effectively and efficiently. From this point on, me and my partner decided that we want to limit the open space, recreate a lid that can change to different angles depending on different positions of the sun, add weight to our overall project, and figure out to transfer solar energy into heat energy efficiently even during the coldest months of the year.

After we received feedback about having too little power and too much open space, we decided to solve this complication by wrapping the prototype with plastic wrap and placing two solar panels on the flap/lid. We chose plastic wraps because it is transparent, which meant that it absorbed little solar energy so most of the energy could be used to heat up the marshmallows but it still provided a layer that keeps heat inside and limits open space. At first, we wanted to put only one solar panel. But, after we put the solar panel on, we realized that it would not be enough since our prototype is quite big. Thus, we settled with two solar panels

Revised project: