A Cuban known on TikTok as Danara (@_danafonseca95) showed a portable solar stove as her personal response to the blackouts suffocating the island, in a video posted last Monday that garnered over 35,600 views in just a few days.
The device presented is a solar heater designed for barbecues, camping, and outdoor activities, which operates exclusively on concentrated sunlight and does not require electricity, gas, or any fuel.
"Solution for blackouts, look at this, what a beauty," says the creator at the beginning of the video, while showing her family cooking with the device.
Danara explains that the stove came into her hands thanks to a subscriber of her YouTube channel. "I know it's a bit expensive, but I'm grateful, and my whole family is too," she acknowledges, without revealing the exact price of the equipment.
The backdrop of the video reflects the harsh reality faced by millions of Cubans: with blackouts reaching between 20 and 22 hours a day in some provinces by June 2026, cooking has become a daily challenge.
Traditional alternatives are becoming increasingly inaccessible. Danara succinctly summarizes it: "Charcoal costs four thousand pesos, sir, and that's a Cuban's salary." The price of charcoal in Cuba fluctuates in the informal market between 2,800 and 5,000 CUP per bag, a figure that approaches or exceeds the average monthly salary of 6,930 CUP.
Regarding firewood, the other widespread alternative, the TikToker is straightforward: "It's bad for health, but we know there are several people cooking with it here in Cuba."
The solar stove showcased by Danara falls into a category of portable parabolic cookers marketed globally, with a power of up to 2,000 W and an approximate weight of 15 kg. Its main limitation is that it only functions with direct sunlight, which extends cooking times: chopped vegetables can take between 45 and 90 minutes, while rice or legumes can take between 90 and 150 minutes.
This solution is not an isolated case. Cubans have increasingly turned to solar stoves to survive power outages since early 2026. A private shop in Central Havana sold a parabolic solar cooker for 135 dollars last May. In February, a woman in Trinidad, Sancti Spíritus, rescued a solar oven from the Special Period of the 90s that was still functioning after 36 years. And in June, it was reported that solar cookers made from cardboard, aluminum foil, and a dark pot were being handcrafted in Spain for delivery to Cuba.
The energy crisis driving these solutions has structural roots: the National Electrical System operates with deficits of up to 2,040 MW due to the deterioration of thermal power plants, and the Ministry of Energy and Mines itself acknowledged in May that the installed solar photovoltaic generation —over 1,300 MW— does not resolve blackouts without large-scale storage batteries.
Danara closed her video with a direct message to those who can afford the solution: "If you want to help your family, you know how: with a solar stove."
Filed under: