a group of scientists has discovered a way to store solar energy in a liquid form that can
be used to make electricity whenever needed this liquid can be kept for up to 18 years
the technology has been in the works for a few years and BGR was the first to report on it in
2017 researchers at Sweden's Chalmers University of Technology showed off a system called molecular
solar thermal system most that made it possible to store solar energy in this video we unravel the
mystery of a liquid that stores energy for years without sapping any more time let's get started
one of the most optimistic alternatives to fossil fuels is solar power we still have obstructions
to overcome before we can fully Embrace this sustainable energy one of which is the long-term
storage of solar energy storage is essential for us to access electricity even when the sun isn't
shining luckily thoughts of hope are raised by several study papers that present a new method
for storing solar energy a recent discovery might make it possible to directly store
solar energy in a liquid for up to 18 years how does it work and is this a promising future for
solar energy storage let's try to resolve this by making a decision the best are solar panels
they transform solar energy into electrons that are used in households or distributed across the
grid however because renewable energy sources are intermittent energy storage is essential a Tesla
powerwall must be used to store extra solar energy production to provide energy at night after being
transformed from photons into electrons which are then transported into chemical batteries and out
again DC power is converted into AC electricity for use in homes in the grid this process involves
several Transformations each consuming a little more energy that only applies to one house it
becomes far more challenging when you take that up to a utility scale many of the battery
technologies that are currently in use are still quite pricey and significant and there are also
safety issues with lithium there are more options besides using solar panels to capture solar energy
and conventional lithium batteries to store it there are intriguing ways to directly store the
sun's photons as heat or in a chemical form like that liquid mentioned earlier that can
hold it for up to 18 years among several tried and true techniques and recent R and D Ventures let's
start with some of the ways to see how there and where this might go before moving on to that one
one of the methods is concentrated solar power CSP mirrors are used to reflect and focus sunlight
onto a chosen area to generate heat plenty of it they can store thermal energy to Supply Power when
the sun's intensity drops but they may also be used to power a steam engine or turbine to
generate electricity however it goes beyond just that the heat may be utilized to produce cement
green hydrogen water desalination and even steel it can also be used to improve oil recovery CSP is
categorized into three General kinds and is mainly used for grid scale power generation there have
been other developments in solar energy storage besides CSP this is much smaller than what CSP
offers for utility scale energy generation still it shows the direction that research is going and
storing solar energy in other parts of our lives Swedish researchers at the Chalmers University of
Technology are working on a fluid that may be able to store solar energy for up to 18 years
nor Bernadine a molecule made up of carbon hydrogen and nitrogen is present in the fluid
this could bring back memories of your high school science classes but kindly put up with it for a
tiny minute more molecules consist of two or more atoms and Banks to the bonds that bind them the
atoms share electrons unique three-dimensional shapes are seen in several types of molecules
for instance the tetrahedron-shaped gas method the molecule can alter its shape and structure
when energy is added and its atoms can form new bonds with one another that could store
different quantities of energy the researchers altered the molecule from Chalmer University to
absorb more of the various wavelengths of sunlight both the blue and green light spectrum as well as
UV can be used to generate energy when exposed to sunlight a molecule changes into an isomer
with high energy which is a new looking molecule consisting of the same atoms but bound differently
the study team developed a catalyst that serves as a filter for the liquid and
controls the storage and release of energy from the molecule by returning it to its initial form
the fluid's temperature increases by 63 degrees Celsius due to this form shift it can now begin
to collect more solar energy once it has returned to its former State the molecular solar thermal
energy storage system most is the name of this revolutionary technology the study's
principal investigator Casper mouthpolson gave a thorough high-level explanation of the cycle
according to him they have a liquid system that flows through a panel the liquid is basically
sandwiched between two glass plates and the molecules are moving through being exposed to
light and then changing the molecules with the high energy form are then held in that
little tank which they enter after later they can pass over a catalyst that is housed in a
tiny apparatus which will cause that heat to be released and release the energy that has been
stored the molecules can now return to the panel and start capturing energy once more therefore
it is a closed cycle in which solar energy is used as the input stored as chemical energy
released later as he Quinn needed and the original molecule is recovered this way it functions as a
cycle that can run hundreds of millions of times they sent the molecules that contained the solar
energy from Sweden to China where scientists from Shanghai xiaotong University release the energy
and used a device they created to transform it into Power this sounds very promising in my
opinion however it's kind of absurd that Swedish Sunshine was transformed into electricity and
transported to the opposite side of the globe according to Chalmers University of Technology
researcher XI Han Wang they have only used the generator to produce small amounts of power
this ultra thin chip could be put into gadgets like smart watches smartphones and headphones
still the recent findings demonstrate that the idea actually works and looks extremely promising
the most effective systems function between 29 and 51 efficiently at the wavelength they receive
however the team has the entire solar Spectrum which has several wavelengths the best system they
currently have only managed to catch roughly 2.9 to 3.1 percent of the solar energy that enters the
system a maximum of 11.9 to 16.1 percent of the incoming energy it is theorized since something
must be paid for the storage in the molecules it will not be as effective as a photovoltaic
panel and won't produce as much energy sadly optimizing the molecule has proven to be the most
challenging the heat recovery process is running largely smoothly the group releases the heat they
have stored there are some losses in the storing process to expand to a larger portion of the solar
Spectrum while maintaining the high inner density and other factors currently they are attempting
to optimize three or four factors at once and these variables are somewhat pointing in separate
directions no doubt developing systems that are effective in all respects is challenging they
are still testing novel compounds and refining them as part of their continuing research Casper
claims that the next stage is to scale the system up from a few watts to perhaps a thousand Watts
the molecule might not have the same efficiency as CSP or photovoltaics but it might be layered
into other things to improve them can you imagine putting a photovoltaic system on your house on top
of this you would turn photons into electricity for your home and store the energy as heat for
later use Casper noted a few potential uses for their system including heating a car's interior
and heating your hot water without burning gas or using electricity it is crucial to store solar
energy for later use as we advance toward a more environmentally friendly future there are other
ways to capture solar energy and transform it into power that can be stored in batteries while
the use of molten salts to store heat in CSP power plants has been around for a while newer
strategies such as directly storing solar energy in molecule bonds are still in their infancy
although it will take some time to scale it up and identify its Optimum uses the advantages it can
provide such as the ability to store solar energy for 18 years are highly encouraging there you have
it guys the liquid that stores solar energy for years do you think scientists could overcome the
challenges involved in producing this commercially let us know your observations and thoughts in
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