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Concentrated Solar Power Unleashed By MITMIT have developed a way to harness and store concentrated solar power in a revolutionary leap that could transform the industry into a mainstream energy source. MIT researchers have found a way to store concentrated solar power for use even when the sun doesn't shine.
But not only is this technology revolutionary but it is also simple, inexpensive and highly efficient. "This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said MIT's Daniel Nocera. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon." Inspired by the photosynthesis performed by plants, Nocera and Matthew Kanan, a postdoctoral fellow in Nocera's lab, have developed an unprecedented 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 recombined inside a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity to power your house or your electric car, day or night. The key component in Nocera and Kanan's new process is a new catalyst that produces oxygen gas from water; another catalyst produces valuable hydrogen gas. The new catalyst consists of cobalt metal, phosphate and an electrode, placed in water. When electricity — whether from a photovoltaic cell, a wind turbine or any other source — runs through the electrode, the cobalt and phosphate form a thin film on the electrode, and oxygen gas is produced. Combined with another catalyst, such as platinum, that can produce hydrogen gas from water, the system can duplicate the water splitting reaction that occurs during photosynthesis. The new catalyst works at room temperature, in neutral pH water, and it's easy to set up, Nocera said. "That's why I know this is going to work. It's so easy to implement," he said. A Solar Revolution Sunlight has the greatest potential of any power source to solve the world's energy problems, said Nocera. In one hour, enough sunlight strikes the Earth to provide the entire planet's energy needs for one year. James Barber, a leader in the study of photosynthesis who was not involved in this research explains, "This is a major discovery with enormous implications for the future prosperity of humankind. The importance of their discovery cannot be overstated since it opens up the door for developing new technologies for energy production thus reducing our dependence for fossil fuels and addressing the global climate change problem." More engineering work needs to be done to integrate the new scientific discovery into existing photovoltaic systems, but Nocera said he is confident that such systems will become a reality. To be able to store concentrated solar power even at night is the final frontier that will open up the industry to the mainstream. "This is just the beginning," said Nocera. "The scientific community is really going to run with this." Nocera hopes that within 10 years, homeowners will be able to power their homes in daylight through photovoltaic cells, while using excess concentrated solar power to produce hydrogen and oxygen to power their own household fuel cell. Traditional forms of electricity could be a thing of the past. The success of the Nocera lab shows what can be done with a mixture of funding sources – governments, philanthropy, and industry. This project was funded by the National Science Foundation and by the Chesonis Family Foundation, which gave MIT $10 million this spring to launch the Solar Revolution Project, with a goal to make the large scale deployment of solar energy within 10 years. To return to our Solar Power News page. To return to our main Total Solar Energy home page.
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