Thermoelectricity

By putting a new spin on decades-old thermoelectric technology, scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a tiny microscopic cooling device they describe as the "world’s smallest refrigerator."

A new prototype device works like a kind of reverse solar panel, harvesting energy from the cold night sky to passively power an LED.

There’s no shortage of portable lighting options out there for campers or people living in developing countries. But the Lumir K lamp is aiming to be the right mix of inexpensive, safe, bright, portable and efficient, using any old cooking oil as a fuel source to light up an array of LEDs.

Engineers from the University of California San Diego have developed a proof-of-concept armband that can keep the wearer's skin at a constant temperature, even when the ambient temperature is raised or lowered. And the technology is being scaled up to vest size.​

Energy is all around us – we just need to work out how to tap into it. Now a team from MIT has developed a device called a thermal resonator, which could essentially pull electricity out of thin air by taking advantage of gradual ambient temperature changes over the course of the day.

Created by Norwegian waste-heat reclamation company ThermTech, the Luminiser Lantern that's currently the subject of a crowdfunding campaign uses a tea candle to power an array of LEDs for up to six hours.

Wearable electronic devices are starting to save some battery power by harvesting an energy source that’s right underneath them: human body heat. Now a team from North Carolina State University has developed a system using liquid metal components, making it flexible, efficient and self-healing.

Researchers at the University of Utah have developed a new thermoelectric material that doesn’t use the toxic chemicals common in others, but is still efficient and affordable enough for use in everyday products, meaning the day a phone can be charged by a cooking pot may not be far away.

Energy harvesting devices that generate electricity from light, heat, and mechanical pressure in a single package may soon be possible. Researchers from the University of Oulu have discovered a crystal mineral material that is able to simultaneously generate electricity from all these sources.

Scientists at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology have created a thermoelectric coating that can be directly painted onto almost any surface to capture waste heat and turn it directly into electricity.

A silicon valley startup wants you to have one less charger in your life thanks to its exercise-tracking smartwatch design that allows a wearable device to be powered via the user's own body heat.

In the developing world, many cell phone users have to walk long distances in order to use paid charging stations. JikoPower, however, aims to bring the power to the people's cooking fires, with its Spark thermoelectric generator.