Madrid. A system that captures solar energy, stores it and releases it when and where it is needed, has been perfected to produce electricity by connecting it to a thermoelectric generator.
Eventually, the research, carried out at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, could lead to self-charging electronic devices using stored solar energy on demand.
“It is a radically new way of generating electricity from solar energy. It means that we can use the latter to produce electricity regardless of the weather, time of day, season or geographical location. It is a closed system that can operate without causing carbon dioxide emissions,” says lead researcher Kasper Moth-Poulsen, professor in the Chalmers Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.
The new technology is based on the molecular solar thermal energy storage (MOST) system, developed at Chalmers University of Technology.
Very simply, the technology relies on a molecule of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen that changes shape into an energy-rich isomer, a molecule made up of the same atoms but arranged together differently. The isomer can then be stored in liquid form for later use when needed, such as overnight or in winter. The researchers have refined the system to the point where energy can now be stored for up to 18 years. A specially designed catalyst releases the stored energy as heat while returning the molecule to its original shape, for later reuse in the heating system. Now, in combination with a one-micrometer thermoelectric generator, the power system can also generate electricity on demand.
The new study, published in Cell Reports Physical Science and made in collaboration with researchers in Shanghai, it takes the solar power system a step further and details how it can be combined with a compact thermoelectric generator to convert solar energy into electricity.
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