Scientists Develop Liquid That Can Store Solar Energy For More Than a Decade

Solar power has been lauded as the answer to moving away from fossil fuel dependent power supplies. However, having consistent access to solar power has proven difficult due to issues with storing for long periods of time. These problems might just be about to be solved though. A series of new research papers have outlined the use of a novel approach to storing the suns energy. Liquid acts like an efficient battery Scientists in Sweden have developed a specialized fluid, called a solar thermal fuel, that can reportedly store energy captured from the sun for over a decade. "A solar thermal fuel is like a rechargeable battery, but instead of electricity, you put sunlight in and get heat out, triggered on demand," Jeffrey Grossman, an engineer works with these materials at MIT explained to NBC News. The fluid has been in development for over a year by scientists from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. The exciting liquid is a molecule composed of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen. SPONSORED VIDEO Liquid changes form under sunlight When sunlight makes contact with the liquid the bonds between its atoms are rearranged and it transforms into an energized version of itself called an isomer. […]

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