Behind petroleum, coffee is the second most traded product in the world. The consumption per year is about 1.3 kilograms per person. 45% of Americans over the age of 18 drink coffee every day. There is a reason behind these statistics, and it’s simply that people love coffee. Drinking coffee could become more sustainable if we could heat the water with no electricity, and if we wouldn’t have to use non-recyclable paper cups. Also, if there was a portable coffeemaker, we could drink cheaper coffee at any time and at any place.

I designed a solar coffeemaker, which works like this: A blacksurface is placed at the top of the coffeemaker, and it absorbs solar energy. This surface has a pivot, which allows it to rotate and be moved out to pour grounded coffee or tea. Once coffee is inside and the device is closed, the top should be filled up with water for one or two cups. After that, one of the two cups should be placed at the top. The cup’s surface is made out of two glasses, with a vacuum layer in the middle of both. It also absorbs solar energy, but inhibits heat loss. Warm water tends to go up, and it will keep on getting warmer until its almost boiling. Then, someone should press the On/off button, so the inside system starts working, just as a normal drip brew coffee machine does.

This idea of this coffeemaker is better than others since it is portable, and uses clean energy to warm up the water. It could be applied and used anywhere: at home, work, or any other place. It could be especially useful to people who are outdoors most of their time. Production costs shouldn’t be higher than a drip brew coffee machine, since materials are not uncommon; the only thing that changes is the fact that it uses zero electricity. A solar coffeemaker is a way to start replacing little things that add more problems to the world without saying goodbye to our little pleasures. Imagine what would happen if every home and office could replace their drip brew coffee machine with a solar coffee maker, and stop using the electricity needed to make at least 2 coffee cups a day.