Scientists Have Developed Liquid Solar Energy System That Can Store Electricity For 18 Years

A group of researchers have developed a way to store solar energy in a liquid form that will be capable of creating electricity on-demand, as well as store the energy for a whopping 18 years.

Also Read: Solar Panels That Can Generate Electricity Even At Nighttime Are Finally Here

Reported first by BGR, the technology has actually been in development for several years now. In fact, in 2017, researchers at Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology unveiled a system that allowed the storage of solar energy dubbed MOST (Molecular Solar Thermal system).

However, the novel approach by scientists at Shanghai Jiao Tong University has now developed a compact thermoelectric generator that’s capable of reusing stored energy.

The specially designed molecule system makes use of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen. When the solution comes in contact with the sunlight, the atoms inside it rearrange and change the shape, turning the molecule to turn into an energy-rich isomer. This acts as a liquid solar energy storage solution.

Fusing the liquid solar energy storage solution with a thermoelectric generator -- an ultra-thin chip -- researchers could re-harness the power. The tech can be added to smartwatches and headphones to power them.

As of now, this technology has only been used for creating small amounts of electricity, however, researchers claim the results are very promising and can allow them to tweak the system further to allow more energy to be extracted.

Also read: India Added Record-Breaking 10-Gigawatt Solar Energy Capacity In 2021

Research leader Kasper Moth-Poulsen, Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers, explains, “This is a radically new way of generating electricity from solar energy. It means that we can use solar energy to produce electricity regardless of weather, time of day, season, or geographical location.”

He added, “I’m very excited about this work. We hope with future development this will be an important part in the future energy system.”