Engineers from MIT have created a new heat engine with a greater efficiency than the steam turbines that have created the world’s power for centuries. With no moving parts, the system’s ability to turn heat into electricity could provide a crucial add-on component to improve the overall efficiency of thermal battery systems. Published in the journal Nature, latest demonstrations of the thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell have seen it convert heat into electricity with an efficiency of over 40% – surpassing the 35% typically seen in traditional steam turbines, as limited by thermodynamic principles. With the main parts of the system all tested separately, research now aims to demonstrate a fully operational system, which can be scaled up to provide low-cost renewable…