Conversion of thermal to electrical energy with ferroelectric materials

The subject is reviewed and recent experimental and theoretical results are presented. It is shown that materials with high polarization and high dielectric strength can yield good conversion efficiencies. Very high specific outputs are calculated for the conversion of uncollected solar radiation by a spinning space vehicle. Such high specific outputs require suitable thin ferroelectric films of high thermal shock resistance. These requirements can not be met in present experimental converters. Approaches for the improvement of insulation resistance and polarization are given.