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Garden Markers and Smart Roads
There are many places where the availability of electrical energy is desirable but not practical. Some sensors and actuators require relatively low levels of power but are inappropriate for battery power and stringing electrical wires is cost prohibitive.

Thermoelectric generation can provide a means for generating the needed power at the location where the power is needed. What is less well known is that temperature gradients even as low as a few degrees can be successfully harvested for electrical energy. Videos summarizing theory and a hand heat generation example may be accessed by clicking below:

THEORY EXAMPLE

In the highway of the future, road sensors will be used to detect traffic volume, vehicle weight, vehicle speed, sun glare, fog, drizzle, rain, temperature and general road and traffic conditions. These devices will be networked via radio frequency transceivers into a highly interconnected mesh. Their information will be processed in real time to forecast driving conditions, to manage traffic flow through variable speed limits and roadside warning systems, and to communicate advisories to drivers, police or road maintenance crews.

Road sensors can be powered using thermoelectric generation, by converting road heat into electricity. Thermoelectric technology captures energy in the heat flows from the surface of the road to the subsurface and converts this to electrical power.

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