High efficiency thermoelectric generation allows significant energy capture from waste heat streams in industrial and power plants. Combined with escalating electricity prices, the payback times are reduced and this allows both scale and scope economies. Even relatively low thermal gradients become candidates for energy capture including electric generation from temperature differences across interfaces, for example, earth to air for powering roadway lighting and water to air for powering sensors in floating buoys. In the highway of the future, thermoelectric sensor pods might be installed directly into the pavement for sensing traffic volume, vehicle weight, vehicle speed, light levels, icing and general road conditions. By networking the devices via radio frequency transceivers into a highly interconnected mesh, their information could be processed in real time to forecast driving conditions, manage traffic flow through variable speed limits and roadside warning systems, and communicate advisories to drivers, police or road maintenance crews.
Nanostructured bulk thermoelectric material can be diced and pelletized for incorporation into any application previously served by conventional crystal grown or powder sintered material. Thermoelectric efficiency enhancement will allow the fabrication of smaller, lighter TE devices such as radioisotope generators for satellites and deep space probes. Efficiency enhancements will also enable applications that have not previously been practical such as harvesting sensor energy from astronaut body heat. Improvements in thermoelectric efficiency benefit thermoelectric (Peltier) cooling of astronauts, CCD cells and electronics since less energy will be required for these heat pumping applications.
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