Heat instead of water: Super Soaker inventor reveals his latest creation

Lonnie Johnson is a former NASA and Air Force engineer with more than 140 patents to his name. While many know the 76-year-old from Atlanta as the inventor of the iconic Super Soaker water guns, he was also inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2022. With his latest project, though, Johnson isn’t aiming to brighten up summer breaks – he’s looking to transform how we produce electricity.

The Johnson Thermo-Electrochemical Converter, or JTEC, operates with minimal moving parts and is designed to generate electricity using water heated to just 93 °C. The system relies on hydrogen gas, which moves across an ultra-thin membrane due to pressure differences. As heat increases the pressure on one side, charge carriers begin to flow, producing electricity. Because the hydrogen isn’t consumed, the cycle remains closed. This could make it possible to harness energy from sources such as industrial waste heat, geothermal systems or even abandoned boreholes.

According to Johnson, energy waste in industry is massive, with up to 50% lost as unused heat. This is exactly the kind of untapped potential JTEC aims to capture. The first commercial system is set to be installed in 2026 at a major energy provider in the southeastern United States, though the company’s name hasn’t been disclosed. The start-up behind the project has already raised $30 million and significantly expanded its engineering team. One major hurdle remains, however: production costs still need to come down before the technology can be scaled.

In a report by The Seattle Times, Johnson offered a tour of his new lab in Atlanta, describing inventing as “the search for good problems.” Alongside JTEC, he is also developing a solid-state battery and sees the two projects as being in a kind of “horse race” to determine which one will make the bigger impact first.

Concrete data still lacking

Reactions to Johnson’s JTEC technology on Reddit are mixed. While many users express curiosity, there is also noticeable skepticism – mainly due to the lack of concrete data on efficiency, costs and how the system compares to existing thermal power technologies. Still, the report makes it clear that the project is being seriously developed, has secured financial backing and is set for its first commercial trial in 2026. Whether it can truly contribute to the future of energy, however, will only become clear once solid performance data is available.