Solar Cooker - High-tech Approaches

High-tech Approaches

High-tech solar kettles can use evacuated glass tubes to capture, accumulate and store solar energy needed to power the kettle. Besides heating liquids, since the stagnating temperature of solar vacuum glass tubes is a high 220 °C (428 °F), these solar kettles can also deliver dry heat and function as ovens and autoclaves. Moreover, since solar vacuum glass tubes work on accumulated rather than concentrated solar thermal energy, these solar kettles only need diffused sunlight to work and need no sun tracking at all. If solar kettles use solar vacuum tubes technologies, the vacuum insulating properties will keep previously heated water hot throughout the night e.g. the SK-TF, or the SunRocket Solar Kettle.

Solar box cookers can be equipped with a conventional electrical heating element for cloudy days or nighttime cooking. Developed primarily for use in first world countries where both solar energy and electricity usage is abundant a hybrid solar ovens can be a convenient and reliabile cooking appliance. They currently, however, lack the cost advantages of some other types of solar cookers, and so their use in third world countries where electricity or fuel sources simply do not exist has been limited. A hybrid solar grill consists of an adjustable paraboloidal reflector suspended in a tripod with a movable grill surface. These outperform solar box cookers in temperature range and cooking times. When solar energy is not available, the design uses any conventional fuel as a heat source, including gas, electricity, or wood.