3 ms·
Milestone thermophotovoltaic cell converts 40% of heat energy to electricity
- RayVR 5y agoThe actual press release[1] from mit is a significantly better read [1] https://news.mit.edu/2022/thermal-heat-engine-0413 https://news.mit.edu/2022/thermal-heat-engine-0413
- Gys 5y agoFrom the press release: > More than 90 percent of the world’s electricity comes from sources of heat such as coal, natural gas, nuclear energy, and concentrated solar energy. For a century, steam turbines have been the industrial standard for converting such heat sources into electricity. > On average, steam turbines reliably convert about 35 percent of a heat source into electricity, with about 60 percent representing the highest efficiency of any heat engine to date.
- sebazzz 5y agoSteam is still hot after it has gone through the turbine. Let's put a few of these cells there.
- anotherhue 5y agoPerhaps one day we'll drill for mantle heat/power as we once drilled for water.
- moistly 5y agoAlready do. See: Iceland
- woleium 5y agoPlease select from one or more of the following: 1) doesn't scale 2) too expensive 3) requires exotics of which there is a finite supply
- jfengel 4y agoIt doesn't seem to require anything too exotic, but it does require very high heat. This isn't something you can stick in a factory stack to make energy from leftover heat. Their target is thermal batteries for long-term energy storage, such as a pile of molten salt. That can scale, but only with substantial effort, and with a bunch of unknowns.