Thursday, April 9, 2009

Guy Wins Award For Solar Oven

I saw this article on CNN about a guy who won a $75,000 award for his simple solar oven design. I am glad that he won because he says he will use the money to produce inexpensive solar ovens for the rural people of Africa. But, it does seem odd to me that the oven won at all. I mean, simple solar oven designs are all over the internet. I made a solar oven out of cardboard boxes 5 years ago from info I found on the web. The problem is not the design, it is the manufacturing, distributing and educating the people how to use it that is the difficult part. Especially people with different languages, traditions and culture. I wish him the best of luck with his endeavor.

4 comments:

Lizzie @ her homeworld said...

Totally agree. Cardboard just doesnt seem the sort of thing to last long enough to be eco-anything.
Oh well, I guess it is a step in right drection.
LIZZIE

Over the Cubicle Wall said...

At least it is a good cause. Some of the other ideas in the article sounded good too. I guess the multitude of ideas generated is the main benefit of that kind of contest, and maybe not just the one that won.

Daizy said...

I guess that poorly written CNN article was what irritated me. The contest website said they were looking for "those that can be taken to scale quickly and make a real difference". CNN made it sound like he won because he invented the box solar oven which is not original at all. His distribution plan could be considered original though. I hope it works.

CosmicChuck said...

I remember making solar-powered ovens using just aluminum foil (with the Boy Scouts) when I was younger. Of course, that was a quick-and-dirty solution. It was also not very durable, but it was light weight and could easily be packed out. I like the fact that he's created a more durable solar-powered oven using recycled plastic instead of cardboard.