Solar energy breakthrough claimed by researchers

by Rich Bowden - Aug 1 2008, 01:16

Alternative energy researchers are claiming a major breakthrough in the financial viability of solar power, announcing a new method of storing energy for use when the sun isn't shining.

Delivered as part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Energy Initiative scheme, a project designed to help "...transform the global energy system to meet the needs of the future and to help build a bridge to that future by improving today's energy systems," according to an MIT release, the breakthrough aims to reduce the prohibitive cost of storing solar energy for later use.

Using plants' photosynthesis as an example and an inspiration, researchers have developed a prototype that will allow energy from the sun to be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. The oxygen and hydrogen will then be recombined inside a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity as a power source, day or night.

"This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon."

The new catalyst developed by Nocera and Matthew Kanan, a postdoctoral fellow in Nocera's lab, produces oxygen gas from water, while another produces 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, according to the release.

The development has been hailed as a major achievement in the ongoing efforts towards viable alternative energy. James Barber, a leader in the study of photosynthesis (was not involved in this particular research), said the research was a huge step towards the goal of producing large scale clean, carbon-free energy.

"This is a major discovery with enormous implications for the future prosperity of humankind," said Barber, the Ernst Chain Professor of Biochemistry at Imperial College London. "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."

Nocera claimed that, within ten years, homeowners will be able to power their homes during the day with solar energy, while using the excess to produce hydrogen and oxygen in their household fuel cell.

"This is just the beginning," said Nocera, "The scientific community is really going to run with this."

Around the Web