Super Soaker inventor looking to double solar efficiency

Did you know the inventor of the Super Soaker, Lonnie Johnson, is a nuclear engineer with more than 100 patents in his green-lined pockets? Really, you didn't? Well, now that you're all caught up with Basic Gadgetology 101, we'll fill you in what he's been up to lately. Johnson has developed a new solar technology called the Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Conversion System (JTEC for the acronym-inclined), which is "like a conventional heat engine." A closed box system takes heat as an input, creates pressure from heat differential, which generates electricity by forcing ions through a micron-thick ceramic membrane. The big news: this system purports to be as efficient as 60%, versus the 30% efficiency achieved through normal photovoltaic panels. While Johnson's invention may prove itself to be a game changer in the quest for cheap and renewable electricity, we don't think it'll be nearly as fun as using pressurized air to blast water at your pals. Now, maybe if he made a solar-powered water cannon ...

[Jason @ Jan 8th 2008 4:24PM]

God that picture takes me back...

[Homeboy @ Jan 8th 2008 4:35PM]

Amen to that. Props to the dude who find the picture. Damn I remember the good days when Swat Catz went on TV and me and my buddies were crazy over those water pistols and remote controlled cars.

That was one sweet childhood. All the kids living today know nothing about that, their lives are no where as joyful compared with how things were 12-15 years ago.

[The Grand Master @ Jan 8th 2008 5:02PM]

Absolutely Homeboy, I still have a couple of those SuperSoakers in my shed...

[Suhaib @ Jan 8th 2008 6:21PM]

Too true, homeboy! The 90s were great fun.

[NG @ Jan 8th 2008 7:10PM]

I remember i cried for 3 days just to get that when i was young, the exact same one.
Was great fun shooting at each other with it, now it's all about indoor.. xbox.... playstation... wii...

[Phil @ Jan 9th 2008 2:44PM]

But didn't you hate how the barrels would always crack and break on the 50s and 30s. The next generation ones with the solid barrels took much more physical punishment in close quarters, hand-to-hand water fights.

[OneLove @ Jan 8th 2008 4:27PM]

So he invents a way to waste water and then develops a Thermoelectric Energy Conversion System?

[stickmanfc73_ @ Jan 8th 2008 4:31PM]

Don't try and act like that doesn't make sense to you. ;-p I forgot that this man should/is super rich and looks to line even more of his pockets in green. I wonder what it would take to get to 90% efficiency.

[Jeff dePascale @ Jan 8th 2008 4:47PM]

Actually the opposite - i saw something on the history channel about this guy and the super soaker. It was an accidental find while doing something for NASA i believe, he realized the tech could make an awesome water gun. He was definitely right. So this isnt really a departure for this guy.

[chris @ Jan 8th 2008 8:28PM]

@stickmanfc73_

Any heat engine is limited by the second law to a maximum efficency. A solar concentrator can reach ~500C, which would result only 63% theoretical efficiency (773K - 300K)/(773K). A sterling engine operates near this theoretical limit anyway.

I don't see what this device's use is. Without a solar concentrator, the best efficiency you can hope for in a home setting is only 11% (solar water heat at 150F, exchange with ambient air at 80F)

[OneLove @ Jan 9th 2008 10:47AM]

How about attaching the thermoelectric energy conversion system to the super soaker (no pumping) and sell it to the military. :) Vaporize your enemies with super heated pressurized blasts of steam.

[Jonathan @ Jan 8th 2008 4:30PM]

What PV panels are 30% efficient??

[Sean @ Jan 8th 2008 4:44PM]

Mostly cells designed for satellite use - limited space & unlimited budget:

http://www.emcore.com/product/photovoltaic.php
http://www.spectrolab.com/prd/space/cell-main.asp

[BigD145 @ Jan 8th 2008 6:06PM]

The limit for a working prototype right now is closer to 40%. Canada came up with a 30% not long after the current US President cut funding for photovoltaic research. Many of your standard power plants are only about 30% efficient.

[macona @ Jan 8th 2008 6:28PM]

Not many in the field. Solar is horribly inefficient. And the amount of energy at the ground is not so hot either. Heres a page from University of Oregon on solar energy:

http://zebu.uoregon.edu/1998/ph162/l4.html

[Jason @ Jan 9th 2008 9:44AM]

@ macona - that's a really misleading page. Goes from saying how inefficient it is to extract usable energy out of sunlight, and then compares it to the theoretical energy density of gasoline. Even though an internal combustion powered alternator would only net a few percent of that.

Plus - who is using over 100KWH/day of electricity? They say this is the "average winter consumption". A modern home built properly can easily get through January in Canada using only 600KWh, for the entire month. Even in January we get about 2.5 hours a day of sunlight avearge, which would require about 10KW of panels. A Nanosolar supplied array will cost about $20,000 (and last 50 years) once they fill all their back orders.

But then again this is hypothetical, and not the best approach. For the price of ONE nuclear power plant Canada could put a solar panel on every residential roof in the country, and cover the need that would have necessitated at least one nuclear plant.

[SteveMB @ Jan 8th 2008 4:38PM]

I always wanted one of the flamethrower Super Soakers when I as a kid.

[glucoseboy @ Jan 8th 2008 4:58PM]

Here's his bio:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonnie_Johnson_%28inventor%29

Wow, what a career!

[Jonathan @ Jan 8th 2008 4:58PM]

http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/waterguns.html

Pump pump.

[Alexander @ Jan 8th 2008 5:01PM]

I had one just like that, nice pic indeed!

[Craig @ Jan 8th 2008 5:01PM]

Just speculating here, but this seems to be a way to extract 60% of the energy from heat, solar or otherwise. Couldn't it be adapted for use with geothermal heat or any source of heat (like an attic on a hot day). One could even imagine a way to adapt this to change the heat created by factories or cars into electricity.

[Dorf @ Jan 8th 2008 5:23PM]

This kind of stuff is great. Global Warming (if you buy into the man-made part of it) is a problem because of the technology we use. So we need to use technology to solve it. It won't be solved by our our handsomest politicians.

[Ken @ Jan 8th 2008 6:03PM]

Seriously, my brother and I each had one of those.

Such awesome fun-ness...

[seoultrain @ Jan 8th 2008 6:14PM]

thanks for putting up the super soaker 50. That was pretty much the best gun in terms of size and performance. anyone else remember when they got so bloated that they had backpacks to carry the water?

[Earl Jr. @ Jan 8th 2008 7:25PM]

yep. I still have one of those in my parent's shed. Occasionally I will bust it out and terrorize the neighborhood, but it doesn't have the same feel as it did 15 years ago.

This topic has gotten so derailed

[snowglyder @ Jan 8th 2008 6:29PM]

So it captures enough heat to create a bunch of pressure, then gets the power by passing the pressurized ions through a small opening. Sounds like the Super Soaker.

I wonder if this would make that "phhhff" sound like the Super Soaker if the pressure gets too great...

[SimbaDogg @ Jan 8th 2008 7:51PM]

Any inventions that involve reusable energy are definitely a plus. Bring em on...

[Lawrence Rodriguez @ Jan 9th 2008 3:16AM]

Hell yeah Super Soaker 50. The combat rifle of the Super Soaker series.