ScienceAlert Staff |
Molecules known as photos witches can
absorb energy from the sun, store it and release it on demand, and
researchers have devised a way to use them in domestic environments.
When exposed to the sun, photoswitches absorb energy that is stable
for long periods. To liberate the energy, all you have to do is expose
the molecules to a very small amount of light, heat or electricity, explained Todd Woody at The Atlantic.
The challenge, however, is to use photoswitches to make technology that
releases energy on demand and can be easily installed in houses or
offices. Researchers used a chemical compound known as azobenzene and carbon
nanotubes to generate solar power from photoswitches, and they succeeded
in producing molecular solar storage technology that can be used at
night to produce electricity. Commercialisation is now the big
question.
Timothy Kurcharski, lead author of the study published in Nature Chemistry, told The Atlantic that
the technology could be used in developing nations and will most likely
be stored in liquid form, as it would be easy to transport. The users will need to store the liquid in a tank that is near a
window to make sure the molecules receive energy from the sun, and then
the charged liquid would need to be transported to a storage tank, where
it will remain until needed.
“For solar cooking, one would leave the device out in the sun during the day,” Kucharski explained. “One
design we have for such an application is purely gravity driven – the
material flows from one tank to another. The flow rate is restricted so
that it's exposed to the sun long enough that it gets fully charged.
Then, when it's time to cook dinner, after the sun is down, the flow
direction is reversed, again driven by gravity, and the opposite side of
the setup is used as the cooking surface… As the material flows back to
the first tank, it passes by an immobilized catalyst which triggers the
energy-releasing process, heating the cooking surface up.” So yes, solar power in the dark is now a reality. Thank you, science!
Source: The Atlantic
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Thursday, April 17, 2014
Scientists generate solar power in the dark
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