Quantsuff sent me an email with this link, a for real COP > unity device. Well, I’m not so sure. You see, if it has to be used with the external heat contributing to the light output, then it really isn’t greater than unity, it’s just drawing energy from an external source. TANSTAAFL.
I had this dream where there were students who rigged up a very large amount of potatoes with coins stuck into them to make batteries and wired them up to power a whole town. After awhile rotten potatoes became the number one problem. Could this cause a shortage of French fries? Watch out, McDonalds!
Believe me, the only way to go is to put solar photovoltaic arrays on top of buildings and feed the resulting electricity back into the grid where it can be used during the daytime.
Thanks to Quantsuff for the inspiration. Though I’m not sure 70 picowatts of light is of much use in everyday life.
