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by bigtuna711 2648 days ago
So... any else thinking Sterling Engine?
2 comments

*Stirling
That and peltiers.
My senior project in college was on Peltier coolers. They're sort of like Cellular Automata of mechanical engineering - cool at first, but the novelty wears off shortly after.

Peltier devices are useless for most applications because of its poor efficiency.

TEGs are rarely over 15% efficient, and usually require 300+°C to operate. At 150C you're probably looking at traditional steam turbine for peak recovery, at this pressure you're looking at about 35% efficiency placing a potential absorber/generator combination a-la-stirling near 29% overall, which is great but for the price and complexity probably not ideal compared to solar at 20%.