Although I will always remember Lonnie Johnson as the guy who helped me shoehorn a high-resolution mapping camera onto the
Mars Observer spacecraft, he’s better known to most of the world as the inventor of the
Super Soaker water gun. Now, if all goes well, he may be even better-remembered for his new solid-state heat engine that may outperform even the best solar cells at converting sunlight to electricity.
Since neither the company
web site nor the recent Popular Mechanics article about his Thermoelectric Energy Conversion System (JTEC) provides photos of a working device or test data, I cannot help but wonder about how far along the technology actually is and whether there are any technical problems that could keep it from reaching commercial viability. But, despite the fact that the 60%+ conversion efficiency claimed for JTEC seem too good to be true, Lonnie’s long track record of successful products and technologies keeps me from consigning his story to the crackpots bin I reserve for the zero-point energy
experimenters, from tap water
hucksters, and other assorted pseudo-scientific
tin foil hatters.
I met Lonnie in his pre-Super Soaker days when had a day job at Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) where he acted as the Labs representative for the team of mad scientists who were cooking up a camera that would eventually provide a
comprehensive map of Mars, document its fascinating
geologic features, and provide strong evidence for the existence of water on its surface. Over time, I learned a bit about his past, including his childhood obsession with invention which led to several jobs at the Air Force developing advanced space systems (and other stuff he still can’t talk about) and a couple of stints at JPL working on Interplanetary spacecraft. Apparently his job at JPL was not enough to scratch his inventor’s itch since he spent a lot of his off-hours in his basement workshop developing designs for toys and other little gadgets. His late night sessions seemed to pay off nicely since he managed to market a radon detector, a water-powered pneumatic model jet plane, and several other consumer products during the time I knew him.
About a year before our spacecraft was due to launch, Lonnie announced that he’d be leaving JPL because he’d landed a major deal on one of his inventions and the manufacturer needed him to devote his full attention to supporting it. When I asked him for details on what he’d invented this time, he said he could not tell me much, but to watch for the TV ads for something called a Super Soaker that would start to run in a few weeks. Anybody who has had kids (and many who have not) can fill in the blanks from here.
Rather than take it easy, Lonnie plowed most of his profits from the Super Soaker back into his passion for invention and founded
Johnson R&D, as well as several spin-off companies. Among other things, he’s developed a printable rechargeable lithium battery that can turn an open section of PCB or even the top of an IC package into a low-cost energy storage device. Last year, I hand-carried a couple of prototype samples to a major semiconductor manufacturer for evaluation and, if the test data I saw on those devices is any indicator, the technology could provide a strategic advantage for anybody making ZigBee, RFID, or other low-power technologies.
He has hinted at having some sort of thermal-electric device in the works for several years but he was very reluctant to share the details of its operation until very recently. The company
web site describes the Thermo Electric Energy Converter as a “solid-state engine that operates on the Ericsson cycle utilizing the electro-chemical potential of hydrogen pressure applied across a proton conductive membrane (PCM).” Apparently, the system uses a closed-loop system to force hydrogen through the membrane and can either be used to generate electricity or reversed to function as a heat pump. I have not had a chance to interview Lonnie yet, so, at least for the moment, you’ll have to refer to the company’s
description of the technology for further details.
Once things settle down from the crush of trade shows that accompany the new year, I’ll spend some time with Lonnie and his team of engineers to get a better sense of how the technology works, what its commercial potential is, and when, if ever, we can expect to see JTEC units delivering power to our hungry power grid. Meanwhile, I’d be interested in your thoughts on the technology or any questions you’d like me to pass along.
Comments? Critiques? Questions you’d like me to ask Lonnie? Write me at
lhg at en-genius dot net or post your thoughts on our blog via the link below.
