First rechargeable solar battery
Integrating
the function of a solar panel that captures light, and a cheap
battery that stores energy into one hybrid device, researchers has
successfully invented the world’s first solar battery.
The
device will help bring down the costs of renewable energy by 25
percent, the researchers said.
The
key to the innovation is a mesh solar panel that allows air to enter
the battery, and a special process for transferring electrons between
the solar panel and the battery electrode.
Inside
the device, light and oxygen enable different parts of the chemical
reactions that charge the battery.
“The
state of the art is to use a solar panel to capture the light, and
then use a cheap battery to store the energy,” said Yiying Wu, a
professor of chemistry and biochemistry at The Ohio State University
in the US.
“We
have integrated both functions into one device. Any time you can do
that, you reduce cost,” he added.
The
invention also solves a longstanding problem in solar energy
efficiency, by eliminating the loss of electricity that normally
occurs when electrons have to travel between a solar cell and an
external battery.
Typically,
only 80 percent of electrons emerging from a solar cell make it into
a battery.
“With
this new design, light is converted to electrons inside the battery,
so nearly 100 percent of the electrons are saved,” the researchers
said.
The
study appeared in the journal Nature Communications.
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