Un vrai GRILL SOLAIRE for cooking nuit et jour

A solar grill developed by Professor David Wilson at MIT allows users to cook emissions-free day or night. The grill uses a Fresnel lens and solar energy to melt down a container of Lithium Nitrate, which acts as a battery storing thermal energy for up to 25 hours. The stored heat can be used to cook at temperatures above 450ºF.

http://www.examiner.com/article/wilson-solar-grill-for-outdoor-cooking

A group of MIT students have been working on a solar grill that uses a Fresnel lens and solar energy to melt down a container of Lithium Nitrate, which is like a battery storing thermal energy for 25 hours. The heat created at temperatures above 450 degrees Fahrenheit is used for convection cooking outdoors.



d'autres SOLAR COOKERS sous ce lien youtube

The grill was developed by Professor David Wilson at MIT after spending time in Nigeria. The people there, particularly women, were cooking with firewood and suffering with respiratory problems from inhaling smoke daily while cooking at the fires. The United Nations Statistics Division estimates 55 percent of sub-Saharan African households depend on firewood and there were 2 million deaths from using firewood there in 2004. Other issues from that practice are the rapes of women while seeking firewood and increased deforestation.

The MIT students are Derek Allen Ham, Eric Uva, and Theodora Vardouli. The project is part of their Innovation Teams, or iTeams, multi-disciplinary course taught by Fiona Murray at Sloan School in May 2011. The study is to do an entrepreneurial survey of product interest and business model plan for solar grill manufacture and distribution, both in third world countries like Nigeria and the U.S. where it might be an easier sell. Most developing countries may not be able to afford the cookers where their current source of heat, firewood, is free.

There should be no more concern about the danger from the lithium battery since it is a sealed system and device would have to be severely dismantled for the chemicals to become an issue. However, a recycling plan would be necessary for protection. The system modified could become a generator for needs such as a well pump, electric lights in a medical clinic or community refrigeration, but this is not part of the current project.

Although this first appears on the Internet in 2011, the pictures in the attached slide show are photoshopped and the grill is not available to the consumer for sale as of this writing. The United States hybrid version is expected to offer propane flame in addition to the solar thermal convection cooking method. The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association says in their 2011 survey that 86 percent of U.S. households owned a grill, with 69 percent owning more than one. The flame cooking would be appropriate for those who cook meat and want that seared smoked flavor so much that they do not mind the toxin risk associated with Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs).

Watch the attached video of the MIT students' Wilson Solar Cooker promotion to see what the African version looks like. The students present in the video their three possible use scenarios for the solar cooker--individual household use, communal use, and commercial use.