3 ms·

It says a ZT of 3.1, isn't that approaching 25% efficiency on par with more standard heat engines? Also more in line with say a solar panel for light to electri

It says a ZT of 3.1, isn't that approaching 25% efficiency on par with more standard heat engines? Also more in line with say a solar panel for light to electricity. That kind of efficiency would be a big breakthrough if it where affordable, imagine the applications.

mrfusion 5y ago
Could you put these on the backs of solar panels to capture some waste heat? Or tack them on ice engines.
mrfusion 5y ago
You could also built completely silent refrigerators and freezers that last 100 years.
- gpm 5y ago
  I suspect you would still need a fan to cool off the hot side, but very silent, very long lasting, and the only moving part could be generic easy to replace fans.
  - repiret 5y ago
    Most current fridges have a fan on the cold side to circulate the coldness all around, and rely just on convection to pull away the heat (excepting RV propane fridges, which don't have a cold-side fan and have very uneven temperatures, but do have a hot-side fan because otherwise they don't work on hot days) Having had the evaporator fan go out in an old fridge once, I think you'll find fridge fans not as generic nor replacements as easy to find as you might hope.
    - gpm 5y ago
      > and rely just on convection to pull away the heat Interesting, I've definitely seen a normal sized house fridge with a fan on the hot side, but I don't know what is typical. > I think you'll find fridge fans not as generic nor replacements as easy to find as you might hope. Current generation probably not, but there's no reason these can't be your typical $20 computer case fan, especially on the hot side where there's no worries about condensation... for peltier elements you could even stick a off the shelf CPU heat sink on top (though presumably at scale you would build the heat sink custom).
    - faeyanpiraat 5y ago
      Time to make a new fan standard which everyone will use.
  - Nasrudith 5y ago
    Technically if you are willing to go overkill you could potentially use huge passive radiators but that would probably be a bit of a niche application.
- tdeck 5y ago
  How does this differ from using a Peltier module (already used in some mini fridges)?
  - mrfusion 5y ago
    OP said this might be 25% efficient. Peltiers are 1-2%?

mrfusion 5y ago

Could you put these on the backs of solar panels to capture some waste heat? Or tack them on ice engines.

mrfusion 5y ago

You could also built completely silent refrigerators and freezers that last 100 years.

gpm 5y ago
I suspect you would still need a fan to cool off the hot side, but very silent, very long lasting, and the only moving part could be generic easy to replace fans.
- repiret 5y ago
  Most current fridges have a fan on the cold side to circulate the coldness all around, and rely just on convection to pull away the heat (excepting RV propane fridges, which don't have a cold-side fan and have very uneven temperatures, but do have a hot-side fan because otherwise they don't work on hot days) Having had the evaporator fan go out in an old fridge once, I think you'll find fridge fans not as generic nor replacements as easy to find as you might hope.
  - gpm 5y ago
    > and rely just on convection to pull away the heat Interesting, I've definitely seen a normal sized house fridge with a fan on the hot side, but I don't know what is typical. > I think you'll find fridge fans not as generic nor replacements as easy to find as you might hope. Current generation probably not, but there's no reason these can't be your typical $20 computer case fan, especially on the hot side where there's no worries about condensation... for peltier elements you could even stick a off the shelf CPU heat sink on top (though presumably at scale you would build the heat sink custom).
  - faeyanpiraat 5y ago
    Time to make a new fan standard which everyone will use.
- Nasrudith 5y ago
  Technically if you are willing to go overkill you could potentially use huge passive radiators but that would probably be a bit of a niche application.
tdeck 5y ago
How does this differ from using a Peltier module (already used in some mini fridges)?
- mrfusion 5y ago
  OP said this might be 25% efficient. Peltiers are 1-2%?