Instead of using your traditional oven there may be another way to cook your food. The energy source: its directly overhead.

I discovered an article which discussed the different ways in which people are making use of solar power. An interesting topic was cooking by using the sun. And no I'm not talking about cracking an egg on the hood of your  car on a 90+ degree day, or even warming up some chocolate chip cookies on your cars dashboard. I'm talking about cooking a full sized turkey, baking bread, steaming vegetables or whatever else you'd like to eat, by placing the food inside an oven like box. 

Solar cookers, or solar ovens as they are more commonly called, are growing in popularity due to the amount of energy used to cook the food. Anyone can do it at anytime during the year, even in winter. The trick is to point the ovens glass lid directly at the sun and reposition it every half hour or so. On the sides of this oven like box are usually mirrors which help catch the suns rays and direct them into the box providing more heat.

Of course you will generally place the box out in the suns rays early on to "pre-heat" the oven and then place your food in it as it gets to the desired temp., or there abouts. 

Like I said, its a good idea but, I cant see everyone rushing out to their front lawns to check on their pot roast. I would be more apt to use this contraption while out on the boat or out camping. Or better yet, as a means to feed my family during a week long power outage. 

Prices range from $150 to $350 from what I've seen. After doing the math it would take the consumer several years to re-coop the cost of the oven vs. cooking in your traditional oven.