Thermopile

Thermopile
Name	Thermopile
Source Mod	RedPower 2
ID Name	Unknown
Type	Block
Stackable	Yes (64)
Solid	Yes
Transparent	No
Affected by Gravity	No
Emits Light	No
Flammable	No
Required Tool

A Thermopile is a RedPower 2 machine used for generating blutricity. Although it doesn't need light, unlike solar panels, it doesn't produce nearly as much power.

Recipe

You can craft it on:

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More

Power Output Details

To calculate the power output of a thermopile, one must first count the number of "hot" and "cold" blocks on each of its faces.

Heat and Cold Tables

Block	Heat
Lava	100
Fire	25
Torch	5
Jack 'o' Lantern	3
Air (Nether)	1

Block	Cold
Snow (Block)	100
Ice	100
Snow (Covering)	50
Water	25
Air (Normal)	1

Additional Effects

If there's at least 100 heat and 200 cold, every second there is a 1 in 300 chance for adjacent lava source and flowing lava blocks to turn into obsidian or Basalt, respectively.

Additionally, if there is at least 100 heat, every second there is a 1 in 300 chance for adjacent snow (block or covering) or ice blocks to melt.

Note that these effects only occur if the energy generated by the thermopile is being delivered to a machine/battery box.

Power Output

A thermopile will produce 0.005*min(heat, cold) amps, or 0.3*min(heat,cold) watts.

Suggested Designs

Type 1

As thermopiles require maintenance with 100 heat or more if the design includes snow or ice, and the next best cooling block is water, it is suggested that one surrounds a vertical stack of thermopiles with 3 water and 1 lava. This produces 0.005*min(100, 3*25) = 0.375, amps per thermopile, or 22.5 Watts. Note that a solar panel produces 120 watts (2 amps x 60 Volts), by comparison.

Type 2

A slightly more improved version uses 1 ice block, 2 lava, and 2 water with the remaining face for wiring. Placing a Xychorium Ice block adjacent to the ice block prevents the ice from melting. This setup produces 0.005*min(200, 150) = 0.75 amps per thermopile. However, the setup requires 5 faces, increasing the space requirement. Note that using 2 ice blocks would turn the lava to obsidian.

Type 3

A max output version with a little automation can produce 0.005*min(2*100, 2*100) = 1 amp per thermopile. It uses 2 ice blocks supported with Xychorium Ice and 2 flowing lava blocks supported with block breakers. This video explains how to make a tile-able max-output thermopile.