Technique Promises Inexpensive Solar power Day Or Night

摘要

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for using solar energy on a large scale is storing it for when the sun is blocked by clouds, or it's night. Storing extra solar energy is very expensive and typically inefficient. Researchers at MIT (Cambridge, MA) say they have overcome the barrier to storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine with a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process. Inspired by the photosynthesis performed by plants, Professor Daniel Nocera and postdoctoral fellow Matthew Kanan have developed a process that will allow the sun's energy to be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. Later, the oxygen and hydrogen may be recom-bined inside a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity to power your house or your electric car, day or night.