A new generator pulls energy from the temperature difference between the ground and space for 24-hour power.
April 20, 2026
Original Paper
Stabilizing All-Day Solar-Radiative Thermoelectric Generation by Reconfigurable Thermal Switching and Dual Phase-Change Storage
SSRN · 6604218
The Takeaway
Solar panels only work when the sun is out, and radiative cooling devices usually only work at night. This system uses a liquid-metal switch and special phase-change materials to store and move heat around as the day progresses. It generates electricity during the day from sunlight and continues generating it at night by beaming heat into the cold void of space. This creates a stable, continuous power source that does not need a traditional battery. It provides a way to run sensors and electronics in remote deserts or space environments indefinitely. This technology effectively turns the entire universe into a massive thermal battery.
From the abstract
Autonomous off‑grid electronics, from IoT sensors to remote monitors, require stable, low‑maintenance solid‑state power supplies, yet photovoltaic (PV) generation is intrinsically intermittent. Despite the promise of solar‑absorber/radiative‑cooling thermoelectric generators (SA/RC‑TEGs) to harvest solar and PV waste heat, existing implementations rely on static, back‑leaking thermal links and hot‑side‑only phase‑change buffering, causing rapid collapse of the TEG temperature difference (ΔTTEG),