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Storing Sunlight As Heat
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H. Peter Vollhardt and collaborators at the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered molecules composed of organic material and metal that store sunlight in the form of usable thermal energy.
The direct conversion of solar photons (tiny particles of light) to power the planet is one of the most important challenges of this century. Although many efforts focus on photovoltaics, the approach taken by these researchers follows a relatively unexplored path: Trapping solar energy in the form of high-energy chemical bonds using light.
Because these molecules store absorbed sunlight as heat, they can use the energy at a later time and place. This strategy has several key advantages over traditional approaches:
- heat loss is reduced by replacing thermal storage with chemical storage;
- stored energy is transported over long distances and times;
- temperatures can increase through control of chemical reaction rate;
- the adjustable molecular frame allows for optimal solar spectral overlap and maximal energy capture; and
- the storage material is completely recycled.
- The molecules under investigation constitute prototypes of structures that may eventually find use in thermal batteries that are rechargeable by sunlight.
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On June 5th, 2012 at 2:00 am Wajih Bokhari Said:
It is wonderful thing to have stored Solar energy for later use. But the problem for a non technical person is how to make it. Can you provide some solution to it.
Thanks,
Wajih Bokhari
On September 14th, 2012 at 10:47 am Nicholas Said:
See anything in this video? It’s a whole neighborhood in Texas who are energy innovation lovers!
http://planetforward.org/idea/pecan-street-smart-grid-demonstration-project/
On February 6th, 2013 at 5:40 pm Gumby Said:
I dont understand why people are so infatuated with storing sunlight or electricity which is cost prohibitive at current technology levels. Maybe in the future whenever we make new discoveries.. For now, we should focus on daylight hour usage first. When the sun shines, we can and should switch to solar usage with whatever we can design for current live usage. After the sunset, we can fall back on the old grandaddy, the grid! This way, we can make immediate headway toward reducing our overdependence on hydrocarbons . Lets just hope and cross fingers that we will discover more economical means of storing electricity or solar heat whatever it is.. in the future. I feel that those people who push storage technologies used to store solar energy are doing it to confuse the public and create needless delays in our purusits toward increased energy independence with solar energy. Solar energy is being misled by the nose in all directions without any clear direction in place at all. This has to be stopped now. We have to keep those people who are out to confuse, stall, trip us along the path toward absolute energy nirvana if you dont have any better term for it.