A chessboard-like photothermoelectric cement cell: a new design for scalable and high efficiency solar energy conversion

Abstract

A scalable, low-cost photothermoelectric (PTE) cell using cementitious blocks in a chessboard-like design with varying solar absorbance achieves up to 1.81 × 10⁶ μJ m⁻² and ∼10 mV K⁻¹ Seebeck coefficient—among the highest for PTE materials. This highlights the potential of engineered cement for efficient solar energy harvesting in smart, sustainable infrastructure.