Updated: Feb 08, 2025

Prabhat Ranjan Mishra

ACalifornia-based company is converting stored heat into electricity. Heat2Power (H2P) uses thermophotovoltaic (TPV) technology, a modular panel, for the low-cost, efficient generation of energy from stored heat.

Heat2Power believes that its technology can help provide power to industrial users at rock-bottom prices, in an environmentally friendly way.

“Thermophotovoltaic devices are very much like solar cells, except they convert heat, as opposed to sunlight, to electricity,” said co-founder Stephen Forrest, Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Physics, and Materials Science & Engineering.

Highly efficient TPV devices can be paired

The company claims that its highly efficient TPV devices can be paired with high-temperature thermal energy storage (TES) systems to add economical and sustainable on-demand capabilities to sustainable energy sources such as wind and solar, as well as provide an economical way to recycle wasted energy typical in industrial power plants.

“The amount of energy in California alone that is generated by solar but ultimately is wasted because it can’t be stored would power about 300,000 homes,” said Forrest.

While industry accounts for about 30% of all U.S. energy consumption, it also wastes about 20-50% of the energy consumed in the form of heat.

TPV technology converts heat to electricity more efficiently

Heat2Power claims that its TPV technology converts heat to electricity more efficiently than any current device on the market at scales ranging from kWs to MWs. Its efficiency is also stable across a wide range of temperatures, while other current technologies become inefficient at lower temperatures, according to the company.

“We pioneered the first solid-state power generator with over 44% heat-to-power efficiency and a clear path to over 50%,” said Forrest.

There is an entire industry devoted to TES (thermal energy storage) systems. Heat2Power directly serves this industry, and has the technology to greatly enhance its effectiveness. A primary component of TES systems are large storage containers that store the thermal energy. Heat2Energy’s TPV panels would line the interior of the containers, and when energy is needed, the heat would be released to radiate to the panels, according to a press release.

Thermal radiation collected by TPV panels

“The thermal radiation that’s coming off the hot storage material is collected by our TPV panels and converted into electricity almost instantaneously,” said Co-founder Andrej Lenert, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering.

The company revealed that at center its technology is its patented technology called air-bridge thermophotovoltaics. With this technology, it is possible to harvest thermal energy even at the relatively low temperatures that reactors put out, according to Heat2Energy.

Device is compatible with existing manufacturing processes

Companies that work in energy storage and waste heat recovery spaces are already showing interest. “We have more customers for this than we can currently serve,” said Forrest.

The device, which is compatible with existing manufacturing processes, was developed in the Lurie Nanofabrication Facility at the University of Michigan. “It’s exciting to see something that we developed in the lab align with customer needs, and to be used for something that’s beneficial to society,” said Lenert.

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Prabhat Ranjan Mishra Prabhat, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, is a tech and defense journalist. While he enjoys writing on modern weapons and emerging tech, he has also reported on global politics and business. He has been previously associated with well-known media houses, including the International Business Times (Singapore Edition) and ANI.