Kitchens that cook on sunlight — no firewood, no charcoal, no diesel, no smoke.
Packaged solar + battery kitchens powering electric pressure cookers and induction cooktops for schools, clinics, community programmes and camps. Fixed kitchens for 200–1,000 meals a day, a trailer-mounted mobile kitchen for camps and clinics, and a portable kit that nomadic families carry by hand — a foldable panel, a battery and an electric pressure cooker in two bags. We design, supply, install, train and maintain.
Frontières Bay solar community kitchens are packaged solar PV + lithium battery systems that power electric pressure cookers and induction cooktops, so schools, clinics, NGOs and community programmes in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean can cook 120–1,000 meals a day with no firewood, charcoal, LPG or diesel. Five formats — a hand-carried Portable kit for nomadic families, a Mobile trailer kitchen, and Community, School and Large fixed kitchens — are designed in Canada, shipped by container, installed with local partners and maintained by FBE for three years.
Anywhere people cook for many, far from the grid.
School-feeding programmes
Hot lunches for 500 students a day with no firewood run and no smoke in the kitchen. The fuel line in the budget goes back to food.
NGOs and humanitarian agencies
Camps, nutrition centres, community kitchens. Standard, repeatable packages shipped by container, with quarterly impact data for funders.
Mining and agribusiness community investment
A visible, durable benefit for host communities — food security, health, youth skills and climate in one project that keeps working after the company steps back.
Nomadic and pastoralist communities
The Mobile kitchen moves with the community: road trailer, fold-out panels, set up in under an hour, 120 meals a day.
Clinics and maternity wards
Meals for patients and carers, hot water, lighting and a vaccine fridge on the same battery.
Women's cooperatives
Shared kitchens for food processing and catering — an income without buying fuel.
Five formats. One standard. Cooked on daytime sun.
Each kitchen is a packaged system: solar array, LFP battery, hybrid inverter, electric pressure cookers and induction hobs, stainless prep benches, remote monitoring and a spares kit. Cooking happens mainly while the sun is up; the battery carries lights, a freezer and the evening meal.
| Size | Solar / storage | Cooking equipment | Meals per day | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portable | 400 W foldable PV / 2 kWh LFP power pack | 1 electric pressure cooker (6 L) + 1 induction hob (1.2 kW); LED light, USB charging | 10–20 people | Families and small groups who carry everything they own — two bags under 25 kg each, no vehicle |
| Mobile | ~5 kWp fold-out PV / 10 kWh LFP | 2 electric pressure cookers + 1 induction hob | Up to 120 | Nomadic and pastoralist communities, seasonal camps, mobile clinics, emergency response |
| Community | ~8 kWp PV / 15 kWh LFP | 3 electric pressure cookers + 1 induction hob | Up to 200 | Village kitchen, clinic, crèche, women's cooperative |
| School | ~18 kWp PV / 30 kWh LFP | 6 EPC + 2 induction hobs + 1 solar freezer | Up to 500 | Primary and secondary school feeding |
| Large | ~35 kWp PV / 50 kWh LFP | 10 EPC + 3 induction hobs + 2 freezers + cold store option | Up to 1,000 | Boarding school, hostel, camp, community hub |
Every package includes: site survey and civil-works specification · supply and installation · two days of operator training · local-language operating guide · remote monitoring (meals, energy, uptime) · spares kit · three-year maintenance agreement · quarterly impact report (meals served, fuel displaced, CO₂ avoided, hours saved).
Portable kit nomadic families carry by hand
A 400 W foldable panel, a cool-box-sized 2 kWh battery, a 6 L electric pressure cooker, a small induction hob, LED lights and phone charging — in two bags under 25 kg each. Unfolds in minutes, charges while the family rests or travels, cooks for 10–20 people wherever they stop. No vehicle, no trailer, no fuel.
How families use the kit →Mobile kitchen for camps and clinics
A road-legal trailer with fold-out solar panels, a 10 kWh battery, two pressure cookers and an induction hob. Tows behind a pickup, sets up in under an hour, cooks for up to 120 people at seasonal camps, hunter-support bases, mobile clinics and emergency response.
How the mobile unit works →Fixed kitchens for schools and communities
Community (200 meals), School (500) and Large (1,000) kitchens on the kitchen roof or a ground frame. Add a solar freezer or a cold room for the week's protein and the harvest.
See the 500-meal school kitchen →For funders and CSR teams
Pilot two or three kitchens, review six months of monitored data, then scale under a framework agreement. Co-funding from development finance institutions and clean-cooking programmes can leverage your budget.
How a programme is structured →Fixed-price proposals, not price lists.
Every kitchen and kit is quoted turnkey — equipment, freight, installation, training, remote monitoring and three years of maintenance — and the price depends on size, site and country. Tell us how many people you feed and where, and we return a fixed-price proposal after a short survey. See what determines the cost.
From survey to the first pot.
Survey
Meals per day, menu, cooking hours, sun, roof and site access — remote first, then in person.
Design
Kitchen size, array orientation, battery autonomy, equipment list and a cooking schedule built around the sun.
Delivery
Containerised kit or mobile trailer shipped from our manufacturing partners to the nearest port.
Install and train
One to two weeks on site with a local partner; two operators trained per kitchen.
Operate
Remote monitoring, three years of maintenance and spares, quarterly impact reports.
A school kitchen that cooks every lunch on sunlight.
Common questions about solar community kitchens.
Can a solar kitchen really cook for 500 children a day?
Yes. A School-size kitchen (about 18 kWp of solar and 30 kWh of battery) runs six electric pressure cookers and two induction hobs. Pressure cookers use 60–70% less energy than open pots, and most cooking happens in daylight when the solar array is producing, so the battery mainly carries lighting, a freezer and an evening meal.
What happens on cloudy days or during the rainy season?
The array is oversized by about 15% and the battery holds a full day's cooking energy. In long rainy spells the kitchen can run on a grid or small generator connection through the same hybrid inverter — but that is the exception, not the design.
How is the mobile kitchen different?
The Mobile unit is built on a road-legal trailer with fold-out solar panels, a 10 kWh battery, two pressure cookers and an induction hob. It tows behind a pickup, sets up in under an hour and cooks for up to 120 people. It is designed for nomadic and pastoralist communities that move with the season, mobile clinics, and emergency response.
Who pays for a community kitchen?
Usually a funder: a school-feeding programme, a humanitarian or development NGO, a mining or agribusiness company's community investment (CSR) budget, or a development finance institution. Frontières Bay can also structure a monthly service fee for institutions with a food budget — the fuel money that used to buy firewood or charcoal pays for the kitchen.
What does a solar community kitchen cost?
It depends on the size, the site and the country — distance from port, roof condition, Arctic or tropical rating and the number of kitchens in the programme all move the number. Every quote is turnkey: equipment, freight, installation, training, remote monitoring and three years of maintenance. Tell us how many people you feed and where, and we return a fixed-price proposal after a short survey.
What is the portable kit for nomadic communities?
A kit a family carries like any other belonging: a 400 W foldable solar panel, a 2 kWh battery pack about the size of a cool box, a 6 L electric pressure cooker, a small induction hob, LED lights and phone charging, packed into two bags under 25 kg each. It unfolds in minutes, charges while the family rests or travels, and cooks two to three hot meals a day for 10–20 people. No vehicle, no trailer, no fuel.
Does Frontières Bay operate outside Africa?
Yes. Our first deployments are in Africa, and the same packages are engineered for Latin America, the Caribbean and remote northern regions, with cold-rated enclosures where winters demand them.
Who maintains the kitchen after installation?
We train two local operators per site, leave a spares kit and a local-language operating guide, monitor the system remotely, and hold a three-year maintenance agreement. After that, the community or institution owns a kitchen it knows how to run.