Okay, we've seen this invention before; but there appears to be more detail now. For example, I don't remember the animation.
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/mar08/6079Super Soaker Inventor Invents New Thermoelectric Generator
By Willie D. Jones
First Published March 2008
Lonnie Johnson has moved on from high-powered squirt guns to a chip that converts heat from the sun—or anything else—into electricity
20 March 2008—His best-known invention, a high-powered water pistol, is a fun solution to a hot day in the sun, but to Lonnie Johnson, the potential of solar energy is no laughing matter. “The sun is the only source that will be able to meet future terawatt levels of power demand, as more and more countries become industrialized and seek to improve their standard of living,” says Johnson, who is also the founder of Johnson Electro Mechanical Systems, in Atlanta. Harnessing the sun’s energy, of course, is easier said than done. But Johnson has developed a new kind of device that converts heat into electric current. He says it has the potential to be the best-ever method of converting solar energy into a form that we can use.
Among the potential applications are at utility-scale solar thermal farms and for plug-in hybrid vehicles, in which the device would use waste heat from the car’s internal combustion engine to help power the car’s electric motor. Johnson even envisions a day when miniaturized versions will power consumer electronics. Imagine your laptop producing power from its own waste heat, your cellphone being charged as you hold the handset against your face, or an implantable medical device exploiting the difference in temperature between, say, your chest cavity and the skin on your arm.
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The JTEC’s setup is similar to that of a fuel cell (
see an animation of how the JTEC works here). A proton-conducting membrane allows protons from a hydrogen molecule to pass from one zone to another while preventing electrons from crossing the barrier. The electrons are therefore forced to move through an external circuit, in the process delivering current to a load. But instead of consuming hydrogen as fuel and expelling water, the JTEC is a closed system. It uses hydrogen as a working fluid that is conserved within the device.
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“Johnson has opened up a fundamentally new pathway to generate electricity from heat,” says Paul Werbos, program director for power, control, and adaptive networks at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). Werbos, an IEEE Fellow, says the NSF is funding Johnson’s heat-engine research because of the strong chance that it could cut the cost of solar power in half. “We’re in big trouble,” says Werbos, referring to the possibility of a future without enough energy. “This could be a way out.” Werbos acknowledges that the product’s development is still at an early stage where unforeseen problems might creep in. “But I don’t see any showstoppers,” he says.
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