Eco Factor: Storing solar energy in the form of hydrogen for fuel cells.
The current technology might have enabled us to install a solar plant right on our rooftops, but all that energy is of no use if there isn’t enough storage medium available. Currently most PV plants use batteries as a storage medium, which not only is an expensive way but the low-energy density of batteries makes them impractical for normal use.
Daniel Nocera, a researcher at MIT, is working on the development of a practical, inexpensive storage system that can also offer better energy density than conventionally used batteries. The researcher has proposed a system that mimics photosynthesis in plants and uses solar energy to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen. While the oxygen generated during the process is released into the atmosphere, hydrogen is used to power fuel cells.
While the energy density of batteries is about 0.5MJ/kg, the energy density of liquid fuels is about 50MJ/kg. Nocera’s approach of using the solar energy to produce fuel for a fuel cell could be the key to offering affordable personalized solar energy in the not-too-distant future.
Via: Gizmag
