Solar Ovens

Solar Ovens are a great way to grill out without the carbon emissions

I love to grill out as much as the next person, so I was pretty bummed when I found out that grills are pretty bad for the environment. Tristam West, a researcher at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, did a study on how much carbon dioxide grills emit. He compared a charcoal grill, gas grill and electric grill that produced 35,000 BTU per hour (an industry standard). The charcoal grill released 11 pounds of carbon per hour. The gas grill produced 5.6 pounds of carbon per hour. Finally, the electric grill belched out a whopping 15 pounds of carbon per hour.

So, how can we still grill out and reduce the impact on the environment? Enter solar ovens.

Solar ovens focus the rays of the sun to cook food. They focus the rays of the sun, using mirrors or other reflective surfaces, onto the cooking area of the stove. The cooking area of the solar oven is typically black or a dark color. Because it is a dark color, all of the light that is focused onto the cooking area is converted to heat. Finally, there is a glass or plastic cover over the cooking area that traps the heat, which allows the solar oven to reach the needed temperature to cook.

Solar ovens have many advantages:

• The use sunlight as their fuel, so you do not have to use fuel, such as charcoal or propane gas, to use solar ovens. This means that you save money and do not generate any carbon emissions having to go buy fuel.
• Because they don’t use any fuel, there are absolutely no carbon emissions generated when using solar ovens.
• Solar ovens produce no smoke, which is good because smoke and ash irritate the lungs and eyes and can cause disease with prolonged exposure.
• Solar ovens are used outside, so they do not contribute to extra heat inside of the home like a traditional oven, which can lower your utility bills.
• Solar ovens do not use a flame to cook, so there is no risk of starting an accidental fire.
• Only the cooking area of the oven gets hot, so children cannot be burned by touching the outside of the solar oven.
• Food being cooked on solar ovens does not need to be stirred or otherwise manipulated, so you can leave it unattended for several hours and come back to a ready to eat meal.

If you are handy and have the time, you can build your own solar cooker. But, if you would rather just buy one, there are many different solar ovens available for purchase. Commercially-available solar ovens can actually cost less than a traditional gas or charcoal grill. Add to that the ease of use and fuel savings and solar ovens really make a lot of sense.

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