Solar box cookers can be made of materials or be manufactured in a factory for sale. There are many kinds of solar box cookers, from small cardboard boxes, that can be used to cook a single meal, to wood and glass boxes built into the sunny side of a house. Although the solar cooker was invented by Horace de Saussure, a Swiss naturalist, as early as 1767, solar box cookers have only become popular since the 1970s. They are found in almost every country of the world.