text: TPVs can provide continuous power to off-grid homes. Traditional PVs do not provide power during winter months and nighttime, while TPVs can utilize alternative fuels to augment solar-only production.
  The greatest advantage for TPV generators is cogeneration of heat and power. In cold climates, it can function as both a heater/stove and a power generator. JX Crystals developed a prototype TPV heating stove/generator that burns natural gas and uses a SiC source emitter operating at 1250 °C and GaSb photocell to output 25,000 BTU/hr (7.3kW of heat) simultaneously generating 100W (1.4% efficiency). However, costs render it impractical.
  Combining a heater and a generator is called combined heat and power (CHP). Many TPV CHP scenarios have been theorized, but a  study found that generator using boiling coolant was most cost efficient. The proposed CHP would utilize a SiC IR emitter operating at 1425 °C and GaSb photocells cooled by boiling coolant. The TPV CHP would output 85,000 BTU/hr (25kW of heat) and generate 1.5 kW. The estimated efficiency would be 12.3% (?)(1.5kW/25kW = 0.06 = 6%) requiring investment or 0.08 €/kWh assuming a 20 year lifetime. The estimated cost of other non-TPV CHPs are 0.12 €/kWh for gas engine CHP and 0.16 €/kWh for fuel cell CHP. This furnace was not commercialized  because the market was not thought to be large enough.