I love stories like this. Scientists using their skills to come up with inexpensive solutions to global problems. Dude invented a $5 solar-powered cardboard stove. It will keep people from having to cut down trees. I hope they get them to Darfur right away, as I understand it women are being raped there when they go to gather firewood. It will also save lives because it makes it easier to boil drinking water. I wonder if there are any commercial applications. I can definitely see people using them when they go camping and such. Just think, using our skills to save lives instead of killing people. It doesn’t get any better than this.
the one who writes 
while this is a good idea I’m sorry to say that this is not anywhere near a new idea and this guy certainly didn’t invent it. We used to make these in grade school science class and I’m 38! The idea has certainly been around since at least the 60s and there are hundreds of plans available on the internet and have been for years…
Its great that people are so concerned about the poor in undeveloped countries but the real story behind this is the people who will get rich off them.Chase bank and others have been selling cheap stoves in Africa for years then they put an inflated value in the amount of carbon emissions per year reduced by them and sell the carbon credits in Europe.The real reason behind the cap and trade program being sought in America is,as always,money and greed.
Though I respect Jon, it is by no means HIS invention. I am currently 28, and in sixth grade we we built our own solar ovens using the same methods. So I highly doubt this is “new” and does not merit the name of an invention.
I had read about these solar ovens several years back and thought what a great gadget. So, this is not a new invention but rather an adaptation since most did not include the acrylic panel. Still, it is being put to good use and it is bringing media attention so something good is coming from this.
While I’m sure this ‘technology’ may be new to the people in Africa … I was building solar ovens out of cardboard boxes and aluminum foil as a Boy Scout 25 years ago (and it WASN’T a new idea THEN). At summer camp we used to have ‘bake offs’ to see who could bake something that came the closest to being edible. Any Boy Scout worth his merit badges can build one of these things with his eyes shut. This guy invented nothing new and should not be given any awards or recognition for doing so.
So, did the Boy Scouts take the ovens anywhere they could be needed to help people or was their use limited to entertainment purposes? That being the case, I think Mr. Boehner deserves the credit for giving a practical application to what seems to have been up until this point primarily used as amusement for young people.
I have to agree this is not new at all.