Yes, it’s true that solar cookers have been around for a while. In fact, you can even make them yourself out of cardboard and tin foil. But, this low cost high performance solar oven takes the work out of doing it yourself.

Where I’m at right now (the Inland Empire of Southern California) it is 105 degrees and rising. I’m thinking that with the Gaiam Hot Pot Simple Solar Cooker my lunch or dinner will be done in a flash (not microwave flash, but quickly all the same).

The Gaiam solar cooker will heat food up to 350 – 400 degrees and it easy to folder down, clean and put back up again. The solar cooker even comes with a 5 quart enameled steel pot for soups, stews and fondues.

If you’re trying to go a little greener and cut down on power bills inside your home this summer, why not use some of the sun’s own heat to do a little cooking? Just say “I am” to Gaiam.

But, small wind-powered chargers have been lagging and so Kinesis sought to remedy this shortcoming by putting both a solar and wind charger into one device. At first the Kinesis charger looks like a small solar powered fan.

On closer inspection, however, one can see that the K2 is a dual charging unit made for those who want to recharge cell phones, iPods and the like while in a windy or sunny city like Chicago or in a remote region while hiking, bikes or camping.

The Kinesis K2 is weatherproof and comes with an LED power indicator light to let you know the level of charge. In addition, the K2 comes with a USB port and various other adapters and ports for the recharging of various devices. This is one green gadget that may be just as useful as it is cool-looking.

New on the market is the Voltaic Generator, which is a laptop carrying bag aimed toward those who want to use the power of the sun the recharge their computer. The market for the Voltaic Generator laptop bag is for people on the go who are traveling and may not have ready access to an electrical outlet.

The Voltaic Generator is the first solar bag ever created that is robust enough to power a laptop computer. It can generate 14.7 watts of power, comes with many common adapters and the bag portion is made from recyclable materials.

The Voltaic Generator is expected to be due out at the end of April. The company also makes several other solar-powered backpacks and messenger bags as well that are available now.

While the company expects to sell the Voltaic Generator to scientists and other business travelers, another market may be students. Imagine if you’re a student at Oregon Institute of Technology or one of the many other colleges across the country now offering a degree in renewable energy, what would you be carrying? Hop on your electric scooter and away you go.

The Freeloader 8.0 solar charger is especially useful for the iPod, which it can power for 18 additional hours or a PDA, which it can power for 22 hours. The solar charger comes in cool silver or hot pink plus USB and miniUSB adapters as well as nine other types including Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Nokia and LG phones.

The Freeloader 8.0 has two especially sensitive foldaway solar panels that can charge your devices even on cloudy days and it will even recharge its own batteries at the same time it charges peripheral devices. The Freeloader also has the option for users to buy an enlarged solar panel, called the Supercharger, which reduces recharge time by half.

Several solar chargers are charging ahead of the marketplace and the Freeloader will cause green gadget fans to certainly pay attention.