Homemade Thermopile

Panels coated with strontium aluminate. Carry out during the day, charge with sunlight, carry in at dusk for night-time lighting.

John

Especially with the California minimum wage... $7.50/hr effective

1/1/07, $8.00/hr effective 1/1/08...

Probably more in the San Francisco area.

For $8, what can you get... hmm... at $0.15/kw-hr, that's just over 53 kW-hr, or 192 Megajoules...

At $3.30/gallon gasoline, that's 2.4 gallons of gasoline...

M

1/1/08...

Silly me, I forgot all about Federal and State Income Taxes, Social Security and Medicare...

Ok, multiply all of the above energy values by a factor of 0.7 or so.

M

For third-world tech, I kinda liked the idea of using charcoal made from coconut shells. Elegant, in a way: converting a waste product into a useful fuel. Although, the method of manufacture does tend to make a stink and make the eyes water (form into a big pile, then ignite) - I fear the California Air Resources Board would frown on that here.

M

And at 20 cents per pound, that's 40 pounds of potatoes. At 40 cents a pound, that's 20 pounds of rice.

John

Probably quite a lot lower, as I imagine a charcoal fire would waste about 95% of it's output heating the local forest.

Barry

Does anybody know how to (or where to find out how to)calculate the power output (Watts)from a thermopile?

Not if you made charcoal out of them.

--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I\'ve got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

Yes, this is something that could work reasonably well for some things. I recall a device made back in the Cold war to run radios (presumably to listen to Western propaganda). It consisted of a hood for a kerosene lantern. The flame heated the interior and it had fins all around it for the cold side. Supposedly ran a radio reasonably well. But then today solar cells run a radio reasonably well and you don't have to dip one end in the river either!

In case nobody knows it, thermocouples have such low output (Millivolts) that they are useful only for temperature difference measurements. However modern Peltier coolers are decently efficient and operate both as coolers and power generators. These days the commercial ones aren't especially expensive either. Perhaps too expensive for third world use but can potentially last forever which helps justify the cost. (roughly $20 a module, but I see there is some new joint chinese-japanese company that is claiming massive reduction in costs so that could make a difference)

Compare Peltier cooler with thermocouple here:

--
Guy Macon

You're probably right, if the coconut shells are processed properly (charcoal retort, etc.) In the Philippines, they just make a pile of green waste on the side of the street, and ignite it. Not particularly efficient, but it does seem to work (several hours of teary-eyed smoke later).

M

So, we've got beta decay at one end of the spectrum, and thermoelectricity at the other, clearly we need to seek a source of energy at the zero point. ;-)

Cheers! Rich

No, no! Anything but *management*!!

Learn to use those brain farts to show you what parts of reality you're missing out on:

Cheers! Rich

Unfortunately, using that power source vaporizes everything in every direction within a parsec.

--
Regards,

John Popelish

Late at night, by candle light, John Larkin penned this immortal opus:

I recall reading about a transistor radio powered by a kerosene lamp. Lots of thermocouples surrounding the chimney, looked like a cylindrical porcupine.

- YD.

--
Remove HAT if replying by mail.

In Hudson, WI, you can get three different brands (that I know of) of

180 proof (90%) ethanol. Yes, Everclear is one of them. :-)

You have to drink it a third- to half-shot at a time, (otherwise it'll kick your ass under the table) but, if it's used properly, it's a very nice buzz. ;-)

Cheers! Rich

My boss seems to think mine is. ;-)

But, then, how many megajoules is it to cook them?

Thanks, Rich

One potato, 5 minutes in a microwave at 800 watts, 240 kilojoules,

0.066 kwh, costs about a penny. The real expense is the butter and sour cream and the fillet mignon.

John