Wilson Solar Grill

The Wilson Solar Grill can not only  cook your food when the sun is out during the day, but it can store that heat energy and so you can cook your food at night. How you ask? The solar grill uses a fresnel lens to heat Lithium Nitrate. (Lithium nitrate “is the lithium salt of nitric acid. It is made by reacting lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide with nitric acid.“) ~Wikipedia

It will store the heat energy for up to 25 hours released as a convective heat at temperatures of 450 degrees F.

Barbecuing is one of the greatest pastimes for many, but it certainly isn’t one of our most environmentally friendly. Whether you prefer charcoal, wood chips or propane, grilling releases emissions and contributes to poor air quality. Up until now, solar powered grilling has required, as you might expect, the sun, which means traditional fuel-fired grills are required after sunset. But new solar technology developed by MIT professor David Wilson could bring a nighttime solar-powered grill to the market very soon; an invention also of great benefit to those in developing nations who rely on wood to cook all their food.

In the future, these could be commonly used for backyard cooking at home:

Wilson’s technology harnesses the sun and stores latent heat to allow cooking times for up to an amazing twenty five hours at temperatures above 450 degrees Fahrenheit. The technology uses a Fresnel lens to harness the sun’s energy to melt down a container of Lithium Nitrate. The Lithium Nitrate acts as a battery storing thermal energy for 25 hours at a time. The heat is then released as convection for outdoor cooking.