Patent ID: 8445773

Claim:
A thermoelectric generator comprising: (1.) a hot side heat exchanger comprising: a silicon carbide (SiC) honeycomb support having a plurality of passages aligned in an axial direction which are defined by partition walls, the partition walls coated with a pyrophoric solid fuel; (2.) a cold side heat exchanger; (3.) a thermoelectric device between the hot side heat exchanger and the cold side heat exchanger, providing an electric current at a voltage; and (4.) an opto-electric power conditioner including: (a.) a voltage regulator including a control circuit operational: (i.) to measure the voltage and to produce a voltage measurement therefrom, (ii.) to compare the voltage measurement with a set point voltage in the range of 12 volts and 500 volts and (iii.) to operate a switch based on the difference between the voltage measurement and the set point voltage, the switch operative: to pass electric current at or above the set point voltage to a high voltage load, and to pass at least a portion of the electric current to a low voltage load at a voltage up to 12 volts, (b.) an opto-electric isolator operational to isolate the control circuit from the electric current.