Mesodyne’s LightCell converts fuel into electricity via light.

Mesodyne’s patented LightCell™ power generator converts any fuel into electricity via light. The core of the LightCell is a nanophotonic material that is engineered to only emit certain wavelengths of light when heated. The back of this material is heated to incandescence by a novel microcombustor and the light emitted from the front is converted to electricity by photovoltaic cells. Key components include:

• In the microcombustor a small quantity of fuel is injected into a preheated air stream, where it reacts. The hot reaction products first heat the backside of the nanophotonic material, then transferring their remaining heat to preheat the incoming combustion air, and are finally released at a safe temperature.

• The nanophotonic material is an array of micro-resonators that preferentially emits light at certain wavelengths when heated. We engineered the micro-resonator geometry to match the emission spectrum to what can be converted by the photovoltaic cells.

• The photovoltaic cells convert the light into electricity, and are optimized for the wavelengths emitted by the photonic crystal.

Is it safe?
The exterior of the LightCell is touch safe. The combustion process is contained inside the microcombustor and most of the heat is recovered out of the exhaust stream, reducing the exhaust temperature to a safe level.

How is this different from conventional thermophotovoltaics?
Mesodyne’s generator is significantly more efficient than traditional thermophotovoltaics because the light emitted by the nanophotonic material nearly perfectly matches what the PV cell can convert into electricity. Mesodyne’s founders demonstrated the world record efficiency for this type of energy conversion in 2017 during their PhDs at MIT.