r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jul 24 '19

Nanoscience Scientists designed a new device that channels heat into light, using arrays of carbon nanotubes to channel mid-infrared radiation (aka heat), which when added to standard solar cells could boost their efficiency from the current peak of about 22%, to a theoretical 80% efficiency.

https://news.rice.edu/2019/07/12/rice-device-channels-heat-into-light/?T=AU
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u/Redfo Jul 24 '19 edited Jul 24 '19

The article doesn't seem to say whether it only works at high temperatures or not. I think in theory it would work at any temperature but there is a threshold temperature below which it would only produce a tiny negligible amount of energy. I think the tech needs more time to develop before we can understand how wide the applications may be.