The Fajita Fiesta
Event Location: Cocoa-FL
Competition: Solar Energy Cook-Off
Division: 6-8
School: Milwee Middle
Team Name: The Fajita Fiesta
Project Name: The Fajita Fiesta
Team Size: 4
Photo and Basic Information:
Team Name: Fajita Fiesta
Middle School Name: Milwee Middle School
Student Names:
Ansh G. – 8th grade
Vivaan P. – 8th grade
Aiden T. – 7th grade
Liam W. – 8th grade
Historical Information:
Our school has been competing in Energy Whiz for 13 years. Milwee has not competed in any other Solar Cooking event other than Energy Whiz. Milwee has won 8 of those years. Interesting Facts about our school is that it has a school greenhouse that allows us to get fresh vegetables and fruits.
Design Documentation:
Design:
We chose this solar oven design because it efficiently captures and utilizes solar energy to generate maximum heat. For the reflectors, we used emergency blankets to enhance sunlight reflection. The box is made from thick and durable styrofoam. To retain heat, we added a top cover made of wood and plexiglass.
Materials & Worklog
| Who Worked | Date | Job |
| Ansh, Vivaan, Aiden, Liam | 3-3-2025 | Worked on brainstorming and figuring out our theme |
| Ansh, Vivaan, Aiden, Liam | 3-6-2025 | Continued brainstorming and chose theme |
| Ansh, Vivaan, Aiden | 3-10-2025 | Found the box to use as the solar oven |
| Ansh, Aiden | 3-13-2025 | Started sketching ideas on design of oven |
| Ansh, Vivaan, Aiden, Liam | 3-18-2025 | Started building the oven |
| Ansh, Aiden, Liam | 3-20-2025 | Started the insulation in the oven |
| Ansh, Vivaan, Aiden, Liam | 3-20-2025 | Worked on the oven |
| Ansh, Vivaan | 3-24-2025 | Started the website |
| Ansh, Aiden, Liam | 3-24-3-2025 | Built the wood and started the reflectors |
| Ansh, Vivaan, Liam, Aiden | 3-25-2025 | Worked on the website and shot the video |
| Ansh, Vivaan, Aiden, Liam | 3-27-2025 | Worked on final touches on box and website before submitting website |
Styrofoam Box- The exterior of our solar oven was build from a repurposed box that had been used to ship materials to the school.
Foam Insulation- We used recycled and repurposed foam insulation to insulate the box
Aluminum Foil- There was a bundle of aluminum foil as we use it in our daily lives
Emergency Blanket- We used a emergency blanket left over from our class as our reflectors.
Cooking Griddle- We are using the cooking griddle from previous years of competing
Test Results
We estimated that our solar cooker would reach a temperature of around 280–300°F. However, due to time constraints during testing at school, we were unable to fully test the solar oven in action. We believe it could reach this temperature thanks to the precisely measured angles of the reflectors and the effectiveness of our insulation in preventing heat loss.
Recipes/Menu
Team Design Video
Like the wood fram surrounding your insulated box, would have loved to see it in action on the video. Great explanation of how it will work. Yummy menu. See you on the 26th.
Re-using the shipping container was a clever idea and your recipes sound delicious!