'10,000 times faster than a human scientist' — New AI tool designed ultra-efficient heat-to-electricity generators at lightning speed, a breakthrough that could slash the cost of energy harvesters and help enable cheaper, high-performance home heat pumps
Researchers in Japan have developed an AI tool called TEGNet that designs thermoelectric generators 10,000 times faster than traditional methods while maintaining high accuracy. The tool drastically reduces simulation time from thousands of seconds to fractions of a second, enabling rapid optimization of heat-to-electricity conversion devices. Lab prototypes achieved efficiencies of up to 9.3%, competitive with current standards. This breakthrough could lead to cheaper waste-heat recovery systems and more affordable, high-performance home heat pumps.
- ▪TEGNet was developed by Takao Mori and colleagues at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and the University of Tsukuba.
- ▪The AI tool achieves over 99% accuracy in predicting thermoelectric generator performance using only 0.01% of the computing time required by conventional solvers.
- ▪Simulations that take about 2,237 seconds in COMSOL are completed by TEGNet in approximately 0.25 seconds.
- ▪Lab prototypes designed with TEGNet reached conversion efficiencies of 9.3% and 8.7%, placing them among the best for their temperature range.
- ▪TEGNet may enable cost reductions by identifying designs that simplify fabrication and reduce reliance on expensive materials like bismuth telluride.
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Pro '10,000 times faster than a human scientist' — New AI tool designed ultra-efficient heat-to-electricity generators at lightning speed, a breakthrough that could slash the cost of energy harvesters and help enable cheaper, high-performance home heat pumps News By Wayne Williams published 28 April 2026 TEGNet could help lower the cost of turning waste heat into electricity When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)/Future) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter AI tool speeds thermoelectric generator…
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