SOLO-TREC extracts thermal energy from the ocean each time it travels from the cold depths to the warmer surface. Tubes of oil on its shell are surrounded by a compartment filled with two different waxes. They flip from solid to liquid when the sea temperature exceeds 10 °C, and expand by 13 per cent (see diagram).
The expanding wax squeezes oil from the tubes into the float's interior, where it is stored at high pressure. The oil can then be released to drive a generator and charge batteries. They power the pumps that take on and expel water so the buoy can dive and surface, and also the float's GPS receiver, sensors and the transmitter that beams data to satellites when at the surface.
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