Thermocouples and heat transfer, how efficent are they?

Question

could a Thermocouple arrangement like the one that powers deep space probes be used with a sun magnifying dish like the one pictured here. This dish can melt steel from regular sunlight.

Sun Dish http://raw-solar.com/technology.html

see also "is it possible to get electricity from heat http://science.howstuffworks.com/question136.htm

Answer 1

Solid state thermo electric generators are very inefficient.

For solar power a steam turbine is much more efficient.

The simplicity and reliability helps compensate for the inefficiency in deep space probes where maintenance would be difficult. But for a large land based application, efficiency trumps simplicity.

Answer 2

If you are interested in this, there are trials of generators being powered from Stirling Engines that are heated from the sun. The heat is directed to the Stirling Engines from large mirrors.

The people doing the trials are confident that this can become an economically viable