A scientist, who a quarter of a century ago found himself musing on the way plants store their energy during the night-time darkness, has made a remarkable advance along the road toward bringing solar panels in as the predominant form of domestic power supply. In doing so, he has made the shift from conventional energy sources, namely those derived from gas and oil supplies, toward renewable, green energies all the more likely.
Solar energy is seen by many scientists and campaigners as offering the potential to move energy production away from the greenhouse-gas releasing methods typical now and towards more environmentally friendly, sustainable processes. Research in this field is currently largely focused on the methods by which sunlight can be converted into the electricity which runs our blenders and computer screens. Most people with solar panels are, at the moment, forced to pass over to the national grid much of the power that they produce during the bright hours, only to have to use the national grid when it gets dark. The reason for this inefficient system is that there is no means for individual households to store the natural energy harnessed during the day for when they need it most.
But now, thanks to a scientist in the states, Daniel Nocera from MIT, there is the chance that solar panels can play a role in bringing energy production away from the environmentally detrimental systems of the past and present and towards the small scale, environmentally considerate future that the planet requires.
Solar technology can, Nocera has discovered, be used to power a catalytic reaction that produces oxygen and hydrogen. These two products can then be used to provide the power for fuel cells,cells which will happily store their electrical charge regardless of a sudden thunder storm or the inevitable fall of the long, dark night.
Nocera has overcome many of the problems that other, similar, catalysts encounter, and has cut the amount of electricity needed to power the reaction down by 90 percent. It does, however, still require the valuable metal platinum, so bringing the system to market may need
some degree of creative representation, and we can expect to wait another ten years before the technology is available to bring such a system into the household.
Solar power does already feature heavily in the energy supply of numerous communities
around the world, though its widespread implementation in regions that do not receive the best of the sun’s rays, those furthest away from the equator, are reliant on the technology becoming more effective in terms of both generating and storing energy.
Using solar power, a renewable green energy, has gone from the stuff of science fiction to a realistic approach to the problem of global warming and climate change. Way back in 1958 solar panels were first used on a vessel in space: the US satellite Vanguard 1. Now, almost exactly fifty years later, Dr Nocera may have made the breakthrough that allows the same technology become the norm in homes and business across the world.
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Posted under Articles, Climate, House & Home, Product Innovations
This post was written by Matthew Gammie on August 18, 2008