Wood stoves equipped with thermoelectric generators can produce electricity that is more sustainable, more reliable, and less costly than power from solar PV panels.
Found this on the lowtech magazine. What are your toughts?
The bit about eliminating chimneys is that you can use a TEG to power a fan which gets the smoke out, instead of relying on convection, which needs a chimney, and many impoverished places lack the means to make holes in roofs. A properly designed chimney absorbs and stores a considerable portion of the heat flowing through it.
Also not sure about the max temperature these things can handle. They mention that the benefit of using these between a heat source and water that is being heated is that the water keeps the element from getting too hot.
The bit about eliminating chimneys is that you can use a TEG to power a fan which gets the smoke out, instead of relying on convection, which needs a chimney, and many impoverished places lack the means to make holes in roofs. A properly designed chimney absorbs and stores a considerable portion of the heat flowing through it.
Also not sure about the max temperature these things can handle. They mention that the benefit of using these between a heat source and water that is being heated is that the water keeps the element from getting too hot.