Cross-posted: "Sun-Free Photovoltaics: Materials Engineered to Give Off Precisely Tuned Wavelengths of Light When Heated"

 

A short research on the post indicates no new news. Perhaps a more in-depth search could reveal more. As of now, there's nothing new to report.

Thermoelectrics can do this too. Perhaps it could be considered as a type of thermoelectric generator. This is the method by which the Curiosity rover is powered. The difference is the heat source. This device uses hydrocarbon fuel source, but the Curiosity rover uses decaying plutonium--yep radioactivity...

The type of heat is considered "waste heat". It may come in handy for small power jobs. You cannot power something big with waste heat, I would think. But for cars, you might power a radio, or some of the instruments and sensors.

The original post on the main blog , 8/4/2011

ScienceDaily (July 31, 2011)

• MIT researchers have made a button-sized power generator fueled by butane that can run three times longer than a lithium-ion battery of the same weight; the device can then be recharged instantly, just by snapping in a tiny cartridge of fresh fuel.
• It has long been known that photovoltaic (PV) cells needn't always run on sunlight.
• thermal emitter that radiates only the wavelengths that the PV diode can absorb and convert into electricity, while suppressing other wavelengths
• Celanovic is confident that with further work his team can triple the current energy density. "At that point, our TPV generator could power your smartphone for a whole week without being recharged," he says.

I found this story by way of PC magazine, which had a story about Elon Musk.  That story was linked from Next Big Future.   By the way, the link wasn't direct, I had to dig a little to find it.

One may wonder if such a system can be scaled up, so that it can be made into a battery which could power an automobile.