Department of Energy. Lane Ave. Request an alternate format of this page Web Services Status Nondiscrimination notice. Researchers have made an important discovery that could make it easier to collect energy from heat. A new way to turn heat into energy. Scientists find new way to capture heat that otherwise would have been lost.
Follow me on Twitter opens in new window. Science News. Story Source: Materials provided by U. Forrest, Pramod Reddy, Edgar Meyhofer. Near-field thermophotovoltaics for efficient heat to electricity conversion at high power density. Nature Communications , ; 12 1 DOI: ScienceDaily, 30 August Turning thermal energy into electricity. Retrieved January 12, from www.
Featured Content. The end result is that the thermal converter ends up becoming too large to be efficient. Research is being done, however, to increase the generative capacity of thermal converters, so in time these temperature differences may be harnessed more efficiently without making them so large that they lose their effectiveness.
Please enter the following code:. Login: Forgot password? The charge cloud is therefore moved along and does not repel subsequent electrons — allowing for a continuous current. The field itself is created by a honeycomb-patterned gate with hexagonal holes in it.
The electrons are guided through the holes by applying a magnetic field between the plates. This figure also incorporates the energy needed to create the electric field. Mannhart and colleagues believe that commercialization of their design could take a further 5—20 years, depending on whether the application is high temperature or low temperature. For the latter, Mannhart says that further optimization of the converter would be needed.
This previous design had suffered from energy loses caused by electron—electron collisions and scattering. The team is now working to increase the efficiency of its generator design in two ways. First, it is building high-performance converters from existing semiconductor technologies. Second, it is optimizing its electrodes through the use of new materials, especially oxides, and nanotechnology. The work is described in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy. Sign in Register.
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