It looks like digital signage that want’s to be eco friendly in the future might have a 24 hour solar solution after all. From day 1 the power of the sun has been pretty much known to be the strongest possible source of energy holding a large promise of energy in the future. But while advancements have been increasing drastically in terms of actually absorbing the power from the sunlight itself, concentration, absorbing films and other advancements pushing the percentages over 50-75% from their old 15-20% efficiency. But where the real problem comes in is in the storage of all this energy, the more efficient solar becomes the more we will be able to accumulate on a daily basis.
Storing all this power so that we have something to use throughout the night and through days of low light and overcast might be something possible if the Scientists from MIT have anything to say about it. Their have been ways in the past but when it comes to “efficient” ways of storing it in a small area with a high density. Theirs a lot of technical mumbo jumbo behind it but to break it down it’s an environmentally friendly process that tries to simulate the way plants store energy. Basically the systems takes sunlight and separates water into hydrogen and oxygen atoms and then puts them back together neatly in a fuel cell providing energy. It all boils down to the longterm availability of clean energy that could be stored in relatively compact space and actual allow us to better utilize 100% solar installations and go completely off grid, or to convert perhaps the entire grid. But right now its research, for now lets look forward to maybe, solar fuel cell based laptops?
Source: physorg
