Recent Breakthrough Lets Us Capture & Store Solar Energy For The Rainy Day
The major problem with harnessing the true potential of solar energy is that there is no efficient way of harvesting & storing it. In a recent breakthrough, Anders Bo Skov, a student from University of Copenhagen's Department of Chemistry has been able to show a way that could lead scientists to harvest sunshine for an abundant energy supply. Anders, his supervisor Mr. Mogens Brøndsted Nielsen and their team were working on a system called 'Dihydroazulene-Vinylheptafulvene' for development of molecules that can harvest and hold solar energy for a significant amount of time and release it when necessary. These molecules were made to change shape to store energy. A major roadblock in this research was that - As molecule's capacity to store energy improved, the time for which it could be stored lessened.
Their team was able to double the molecule's energy density so that it could be in the same shape for a 100 years. However, problem occurred when the molecule didn't go back to its original shape and thus they failed to release the stored energy. Deriving inspiration from baking break, Anders realized that those molecules were very unstable and started working on his synthesis process.
With the new method, a kilogram of the perfectly designed set of right molecules could store a megajoule of energy, which is sufficient for boiling 3 liters of water at room temperature. The team's experiments showed that in ~ 3 minutes, 1 kg molecules could boil 75 centiliters of water, which translates to boiling 15 liters of water per hour.
Even though Anders and his team are yet to find a way of releasing the energy on demand, the number above suggest that they are on the right path. The team is ecstatic about the fact that not only is their method useful for harvesting green energy, it doesn't release carbon dioxide or other harmful chemical compounds. Compared to lithium ion batteries, which is its biggest competitors, this solar energy harvesting method operates on completely green principles and has the motto : “Sunlight in-power outâ€.
What are your thoughts about the amazing breakthrough in solar energy harvesting? Share your thoughts with us in comments below.
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Their team was able to double the molecule's energy density so that it could be in the same shape for a 100 years. However, problem occurred when the molecule didn't go back to its original shape and thus they failed to release the stored energy. Deriving inspiration from baking break, Anders realized that those molecules were very unstable and started working on his synthesis process.
With the new method, a kilogram of the perfectly designed set of right molecules could store a megajoule of energy, which is sufficient for boiling 3 liters of water at room temperature. The team's experiments showed that in ~ 3 minutes, 1 kg molecules could boil 75 centiliters of water, which translates to boiling 15 liters of water per hour.
Even though Anders and his team are yet to find a way of releasing the energy on demand, the number above suggest that they are on the right path. The team is ecstatic about the fact that not only is their method useful for harvesting green energy, it doesn't release carbon dioxide or other harmful chemical compounds. Compared to lithium ion batteries, which is its biggest competitors, this solar energy harvesting method operates on completely green principles and has the motto : “Sunlight in-power outâ€.
What are your thoughts about the amazing breakthrough in solar energy harvesting? Share your thoughts with us in comments below.
Source: #-Link-Snipped-#
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