barbequelovers.com/grills/a-solar-grill-prototype-for-a-greener-tomorrow

Bot review

A Solar Grill Prototype for a Greener Tomorrow | BarbequeLovers.com

.newembed_ratingtable {
width: 180px;
background-color: #ffffff;
font-family:"Trebuchet MS",Helvetica,Jamrul,sans-serif;
}
.newembed_ratingtable_title {
color: #3F5685;
text-align: left;
background-color: #eef2f4;
font-weight: bold;
padding-left: 3px;
padding-right: 2px;
padding-top: 2px;
padding-bottom: 2px;
font-size: 14px;
}
.newembed_ratingtable_category {
color: #3F5685;
background-color: #eef2f4;
padding-left: 3px;
padding-right: 2px;
padding-top: 2px;
padding-bottom: 2px;
font-size: 12px;
}
.newembed_ratingtable_rating {
text-align: left;
padding-left: 3px;
}
.newembed_ratingtable_row {
}
.newembed_customtable {
width: 180px;
background-color: #ffffff;
font-family:"Trebuchet MS",Helvetica,Jamrul,sans-serif;
}
.newembed_customtable_title {
color: #3F5685;
text-align: left;
background-color: #eef2f4;
font-weight: bold;
padding-left: 3px;
padding-right: 2px;
padding-top: 2px;
padding-bottom: 2px;
font-size: 14px;
}
.newembed_customtable_fieldname {
color: #3F5685;
background-color: #eef2f4;
padding-left: 3px;
padding-right: 2px;
padding-top: 2px;
padding-bottom: 2px;
font-size: 12px;
}
.newembed_customtable_fieldvalue {
text-align: left;
padding-left: 6px;
font-size: 12px;
}
.newembed_customtable_row {
}
.newembed_ratertable {
background-color: #ffffff;
border-spacing: 2px;
font-family: Arial;
}
.newembed_ratertable_title {
color: #3F5685;
text-align: left;
background-color: #eef2f4;
font-weight: bold;
padding-left: 6px;
padding-right: 2px;
padding-top: 2px;
padding-bottom: 2px;
font-size: 14px;
}
.newembed_ratertable_category {
color: #3F5685;
background-color: #eef2f4;
padding-left: 6px;
padding-right: 16px;
font-size: 12px;
}
.newembed_ratertable_rating {
}
.newembed_ratertable_row {
}
.newembed_commentkarma {
border-width: 1px;
border-style: solid;
border-color: #aaaaaa;
padding-left: 4px;
padding-right: 4px;
padding-top: 4px;
padding-bottom: 4px;
margin-left: 8px;
margin-right: 8px;
margin-top: 8px;
margin-bottom: 8px;
text-align: left;
font-weight: normal;
}
.newembed_commentkarma_personorpeople {
}
.newembed_commentkarma_helpfulcount {
font-weight: bold;
}
.newembed_commentkarma_washelpful {
}
.newembed_commentkarma_thanks {
color: #00aa00;
font-style: normal;
font-weight: bold;
}
.newembed_commentkarma_already {
color: #aa0000;
font-style: normal;
font-weight: bold;
}
.newembed_commentkarma_yesnolink {
font-weight: bold;
}
.newembed_commentkarma_yesnolink:hover {
font-weight: bold;
}
.newembed_commentcustomdata {
background-color: #ffffff;
padding-left: 2px;
padding-right: 2px;
padding-top: 2px;
margin-bottom: 4px;
text-align: left;
font-weight: normal;
}
.newembed_commentcustomdata_cfield {
font-style: normal;
font-weight: bold;
}
.newembed_commentcustomform {
margin-bottom: 12px;
}
.newembed_commentcustomform_cfield {
font-weight: bold;
padding-right: 4px;
padding-top: 4px;
}
.newembed_commentcustomform_cfield_inputcell {
}
.newembed_userratingstable_containerdiv {
}
.newembed_userratingstable {
padding-left: 3px;
padding-right: 3px;
padding-top: 3px;
padding-bottom: 3px;
margin-top: 4px;
}
.newembed_userratingstable_ratingcategory {
background-color: #eeeeee;
font-weight: bold;
padding-left: 2px;
padding-right: 2px;
padding-top: 2px;
padding-bottom: 2px;
}
.newembed_userratingstable_rating {
padding-right: 12px;
}
.newembed_userratingstable_rowdivider {
}
.newembed_comparisontable_rankcell {
background-color: #ffffff !important;
}
.newembed_comparisontable_infocell {
background-color: #d0d6e2 !important;
}
.newembed_comparisontable_namecell {
background-color: #b2c3e6 !important;
}
.newembed_comparisontable_darkcell {
background-color: #d0d6e2 !important;
color: #000000 !important;
}
.newembed_comparisontable_lightcell {
background-color: #DADFE9 !important;
color: #1d459b !important;
}
.newembed_comparisontable_namecelllink {
color: #000000 !important;
font-weight: bold !important;
}
.newembed_comparisontable_namecelllink:hover {
color: #000000 !important;
font-weight: bold !important;
}
.newembed_comparisontable_infocellvisitlink {
color: #000000 !important;
}
.newembed_comparisontable_infocellvisitlink:hover {
color: #000000 !important;
}
.newembed_comparisontable_infocellreadlink {
color: #1a57ad !important;
}
.newembed_comparisontable_infocellreadlink:hover {
}
.newembed_comparisontable_headingdark {
color: #c20000;
}
.newembed_comparisontable_headingcolored {
color: #000000;
}
.newembed_comparisontable_sideheader {
background-color: #ffffff;
}
.newembed_comparisontable_centerheader {
background-color: #ffffff;
}
div.rating-cancel,div.star-rating{float:left;width:13px;height:11px;text-indent:-999em;cursor:pointer;display:block;background:transparent;overflow:hidden}div.rating-cancel,div.rating-cancel a{background:url(barbequelovers.com/wp-content/plugins/re/starimages/default/delete.png) no-repeat 0 -12px}
div.star-rating,div.star-rating a{background:url(barbequelovers.com/wp-content/plugins/re/starimages/default/stars.png) no-repeat 0 0px}
.sidebkg {
background-image: url(barbequelovers.com/wp-content/plugins/re/images/tables/triedandtrue/sidebkg.png) !important;
}
.h_headers th span {
background: url(barbequelovers.com/wp-content/plugins/re/images/tables/triedandtrue/headerLeft.jpg) no-repeat top left !important;
}
.h_headers th{
background: url(barbequelovers.com/wp-content/plugins/re/images/tables/triedandtrue/headerRight.jpg) no-repeat top right !important;
}

.wp-polls .pollbar {
margin: 1px;
font-size: 6px;
line-height: 8px;
height: 8px;
background-image: url('barbequelovers.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-polls/images/default/pollbg.gif');
border: 1px solid #c8c8c8;
}

BarbequeLovers.comSite dedicated to all things barbeque, including recipes, reviews, stories, sauces and rubs, and info about dutch oven cookingHome
BBQ Recipe Contests
BBQ Recipe Contest

Enter BBQ Contest
Contest Prizes
BBQ Contest Rules
2011 Entries

Women of the Grill

Enter Contest
Official Contest Rules
Submitted Entries
2010 Contest Winners

Write for Us
Submit a Recipe
Contact Us
Link to Us
Barbequelovers Banners
Advertise
Follow me on TwitterRecipes
Appetizers
Beef Recipes
Breads
Breakfast
Burger Recipes
Chicken Recipes
Chili
Desserts
Drinks
Fruit Recipes
Lamb Recipes
Pizza
Pork Recipes
Sauces, Marinades & Rubs
Seafood Recipes
Side Dishes
Skewers & Kabobs
Soup Recipes
Turkey Recipes
Vegetable Recipes
Dutch Ovens
Grills
Accessories
Caring for your BBQ
Milk Can Dinners
Smokers
Volcano Stoves
BBQ Competitions
General
Outdoor Cooking
Tailgating
Restaurant Reviews
Tips & Tricks

You are here: Home / Grills / A Solar Grill Prototype for a Greener Tomorrow
A Solar Grill Prototype for a Greener Tomorrow

Students at MIT are working on a case study for a new type of solar powered outdoor grill. Based on the technology from MIT professor David Wilson, this grill would collect thermal energy from the sun and store it to allow cooking times for up to twenty five hours at temperatures above 450 degrees Fahrenheit. The study is being conducted by Derek Ham, Eric Uva, and Theodora Vardouli, all part of an entrepreneurship course called “iTeams.” I-Teams, (short for “Innovation Teams”) is a unique MIT course that assembles cross-disciplinary teams of students from across MIT.  The goal of i-Teams is to teach students the process of science and technology commercialization focusing on how to judge a technology’s commercial potential.  Each team has access to faculty, practitioners, business mentors, and fellow students throughout their project.
“There are a lot of solar cookers out there,” says Wilson, “but surprisingly not many using latent-heat storage as an attribute to cook the food.” Wilson’s technology uses a Fresnel lens to harness the sun’s energy to melt down a container of Lithium Nitrate. The Lithium Nitrate serves as a solar battery. Due to its phase change reaction, the thermal energy is able to be stored at longer periods of time and at higher temperatures. Heat is then redistributed through convection, which allows for outdoor cooking.
This study is very timely because although the students are creating a new grill for American backyards, the business plan is designed to allow the grills to be deployed in developing countries as an alternative source for cooking. Wilson originally came up for the idea during his time spent in Nigeria. While there he noticed a large set of problems linked to practice of cooking with firewood. These problems include reports of women being raped during their daily search for firewood, constant increase in deforestation, and respiratory health issues due to the daily inhalation of smoke in closed proximities. According to the United Nations Statistics Division, 55 percent of households in sub-Saharan Africa depend on firewood. In developing countries this Solar Grill would become a solution to a growing need.
In the US market, according to the Barbecue Industry Association, about 75 percent of all U.S. households owned a barbecue grill in 1999, and 40 percent owned more than one. To respond to the demands of the American public, the proposed US model would be a hybrid system of both propane and solar cooking capabilities. This would allow you to have your flame kissed meat as well as the ability to slow roast corn from the thermal convection. Currently the technology is in its prototype stage, but if all goes well in a few years you might be able to have Solar-Cooked food at your next barbecue.
The students are currently taking a market survey on this technology via Survey Monkey. You can visit and take their survey at: www.surveymonkey.com/s/GPNRXNJ
By Derek Ham
No related posts.

Filed Under: Grills Tagged With: barbecue, barbeque, bbq, David, Derek Ham, grill, MIT, power, solar, Wilson

Comments

Bravo Siera says:

August 14, 2011 at 4:03 pm

This is BS. There is no way you can provide a grill area as large as the fresnel lens with heat for three times as long as it collected the heat, and give it at 450 degrees. You would be taking an area of a few hundred square inches, exposing it to sun for five good hours and maybe ten usable hours a day, then heating a grill area of about the same size at a higher temp for longer.
Maybe the laws of thermodynamics went out of style.

Dave says:

August 14, 2011 at 4:59 pm

Bravo,
We will have to see how the students at MIT make out with their research. As I think about it, the real test will be how efficiently they are able to store the energy and then convert it back into heat without waste.
If they are successful, the world will benefit. If they are not successful, hopefully they will document their findings so as a society we can learn from their research…
Just my thoughts…
Dave

Lefty says:

August 15, 2011 at 11:44 am

@Bravo Sierra:
The Wright Brothers called and left you a voicemail-
“There’s no way that the laws of physics could EVER allow for human flight. Don’t bother trying. Just give up now…….oh……uh…….wait a second……”
And then they mysteriously hung up. Curious.

NoHalo says:

August 15, 2011 at 11:47 am

Well, I would love if such a product would be possible, but it does annoy me that the photos are all faked…especially the ones photoshopped into an African village scene. It does make me dubious about the entire claim.

YaRight says:

August 15, 2011 at 7:45 pm

What do you do if it rains?

Josualdo Silva says:

August 16, 2011 at 2:37 am

Using artifical images to promote a product is not always the best policy. In the top image, in the village, the lighting on the barbecue cormes from back and right of the scene, while on everything else it comes from left and front. On the second image, two african women with two cookers, both cookers seem to hover above ground, and both have the same reflections, of objects which aren’t there.
I’m not commenting the bottom, western image, but it seems that the cooker is inside the wall, if you follow the bottom circumference.
I’m not saying it doesn’t work – do I know? But is the price tag african, say, under $20, or western?
On a personal note, I can’t have a warm shower or cook solar today. Completely overcast. My enthusiasm wont move the clouds.

Dave says:

August 16, 2011 at 8:28 pm

Hi Josualdo and NoHalo,
It is obvious the pictures are photoshop’d. When MIT contacted me to ask if I would provide the information on the website, I happily agreed to help. I support everyone who tries to make a difference in others lives.
As it says in the article, the team is part of an innovation team that is trying to make a difference in the world. As part of the project I am sure they had to write a report on the possible applications of their device after it was completed.
This was in concept phase earlier this year. Let’s see if they can get it to work and change some lives…

george milton says:

August 26, 2011 at 5:42 pm

If it rains I guess you eat raisin bran. Natural gas is the largest untapped (or barely tapped) resource in the world. The USA has enough natural gas reserves to power stoves for 200 years and that’s just reserves we know about. There is plenty of time to do these things and research needs to be focused on getting us off the crude oil habit first.

Mark says:

September 7, 2011 at 9:16 am

this is the biggest fake ive ever seen, i have to do a brochure in school about this thing because my teacther thinks that it is real haha

Dave says:

September 20, 2011 at 6:32 am

Mark,
Thank heavens for school assignments as it might help you to learn something.
If you would actually read the article, you would find that this is a case study for a class at MIT. It is a prototype. It has not yet been implemented yet. There are no tribes in Africa using these solar grills because they don’t exist yet. Of course the pictures are photoshopped, they are to indicate what might happen if they are successful in creating the grill.
Maybe someday the grills will be a reality, but for right now, this is a case study.

Eldon Martin says:

September 30, 2011 at 7:54 am

I tend to agree with Bravo – there is no way this thing can cook for 25 hours straight after warming in the sun for a day.
However, it is possible that the grill will only STORE the heat for 25 hours and then cook something at 450 for 30 minutes or so using the stored heat. If the heat storage is efficient enough, I suppose this could be possible.
Either way – put me on the waiting list for one of these if it doesn’t break my budget.

Dave says:

October 4, 2011 at 7:32 pm

It will definitely be interesting to see what they come up with.
I am with you Eldon – put me down for one as well, but it has to be priced right!

tonyo says:

October 10, 2011 at 10:11 pm

this is great!!!! the students who is making the study on this grill should be commended for their desire to help the communityu. i hope this grill would work! anyways i have some questions though
1. how soon can the Lihium nitrate be consumed?
2. How much will the fuel cost?
3. How safe is the fuel handling?
i think lithium nitrates are used in the manufacture of pyrotechnics. anyways, if the students need to do more tests with this cooker. sign me in!!!!

Dave says:

October 10, 2011 at 10:16 pm

Great questions! I will forward along to the students at MIT. Hopefully they will give us an update on where they are at and get us some answers.
Dave

Speak Your Mind Cancel reply

Name *
Email *
Website

Barbequelovers.com Cool Links

Looking for Restaurants? – Check out Jack Astors!

Sign up for Barbequelovers Newsletter

Receive BBQ tips, tricks, recipes and contest announcements by email.

First Name

Email Address*

* = required field

Categories
Select Category
BBQ Competitions
BBQ Contests
   2011
Dutch Oven Cooking
Featured
General
Grills
   Accessories
   Caring for your BBQ
   Milk Can Dinners
   Smokers
   Volcano Stoves
Outdoor Cooking
   Tailgating
Recipes
   Appetizers
   Beef Recipes
   Breads
   Breakfast
   Burger Recipes
   Chicken Recipes
   Chili
   Desserts
   Drinks
   Fruit Recipes
   Lamb Recipes
   Pizza
   Pork Recipes
   Sauces, Marinades & Rubs
   Seafood Recipes
   Side Dishes
   Skewers & Kabobs
   Soup Recipes
   Turkey Recipes
   Vegetable Recipes
Restaurant Reviews
Tips & Tricks
Women of the Grill Contest Recipes
   2010
Recent Posts from Barbeque Lovers

Hickory Smoked Grilled Sirloin Burger, with Fried Egg, Sauteed Onions and Chipotle and Basil Aioli
General’s BBQ Chicken Skewers
Garlic, Cheddar, Crimini & Spinach Stuffed Tri-Tip Roast
BBQ Chicken on the Pit
Grilled Veal Chop with Sage Butter

Return to top of pageCopyright © 2011 · WordPress Customization by Legacy Images, Inc. · Log in