Storing the Sun’s Energy in Liquid Could Change Solar Forever

Researchers have just found two new ways to make solar power more efficient. Could this solve our energy crisis?

These Massive Geoengineering Projects Won’t Stop Global Warming – https://youtu.be/tKzlYtTjxoU
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The American Solar Industry Had a Historic Year
https://www.seeker.com/the-american-solar-industry-had-a-historic-year-2307076151.html
“America’s solar industry is booming, showing its biggest growth ever in 2016, and it appears set to break additional records in the years ahead, according to a new industry report. The solar sector nearly doubled the amount of solar power installed last year compared to 2015, GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association said in their annual analysis of the US solar sector. Indeed, more solar power was added last year to the nation’s electricity grid than any other source of energy – a milestone for the burgeoning industry.”

Liquid storage of solar energy – more effective than ever before
https://phys.org/news/2017-03-liquid-storage-solar-energy-effective.html
“Many consider the sun the energy source of the future. But one challenge is that it is difficult to store solar energy and deliver the energy ‘on demand”. A research team from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, has shown that it is possible to convert the solar energy directly into energy stored in the bonds of a chemical fluid – a so-called molecular solar thermal system. The liquid chemical makes it possible to store and transport the stored solar energy and release it on demand, with full recovery of the storage medium.”

Make perovskite solar cells stable
https://www.nature.com/news/make-perovskite-solar-cells-stable-1.21807
“The hunt is on to find a cheap and safe solar-cell technology. Crystalline silicon is the basis for 90% of commercial photovoltaic devices, which use semiconductors to convert light into electricity. But silicon photovoltaics are still expensive to process, their manufacture produces toxic by-products and they are cumbersome to install. Perovskites could be a game-changer.”

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Special thanks to Julian Huguet for hosting and writing this episode of Seeker!
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20 thoughts on “Storing the Sun’s Energy in Liquid Could Change Solar Forever”

  1. The liquid-sodium solar plants are interesting. You have a bunch of mirrors reflecting sunlight to huge tower, where it transfers and stores the heat into tanks of liquid sodium. The stored heat is used to make steam and run a steam turbine. If the system is large enough, it can run for several days without sunlight and provide power 24hrs a day.

    Reply
  2. Another interesting idea is the re-purposing of old coal mines in Germany. The simple concept is that the mine is flooded and in times of excess power generation water is pumped up to a surface lake then released at times of shortage back down the mine generating additional power neat

    Reply
  3. Clearly, LFTR s are the way to go to provide base load in support of intermittent renewables. Much of the research and testing has been done providing proof of principle over 50 years ago! Stubborn attitudes in the traditional nuclear industry and the aging and conservative green lobby are resisting the solution

    Reply
  4. This idea is stupid, there is no way this could be incorporated into solar farms. One could argue that you could use it to warm your house, however I'm not even convinced that this would work realistically. Swedens budget would better be spent on better reaserch into Fusion instead of this pointless rubbish. The thing with renewables is that producing them in the first place leaves a massive footprint and the pay off just isnt worth it. All this renewable energy philosophy is going to get us is 3rd world living conditions at best .

    Reply
  5. Did he say the one problem is "what u do if there is not Sun"??? LOLOLOL ! There Never is NO Sun. Night and Cloud cover, is a local problem/issue. Not the lack of Sun. i.e. spend your time address ur local idosyncracies, and stop blaming the Sun, it Does not Go away, it does not Go anywhere. U do. Change that! Address that challenge and a National Solar Grid, synchronized to Time Zones, able to switch, rally, from clouded areas to sunny areas and back again, rarely be without Sun light.

    Reply
  6. you say solar, but you show solar panels only.. and the wind comes from where? and the rivers are flowing because of?? Waves are made because?? earth is already covered in one or another kind of "solar cells", no gaps.. It's that narrow thinking that you're demonstrating that is holding us back..

    Reply
  7. At the immediate moment I think solar power for electricity is just Promises, Promises and more empty Promises.

    Reply
  8. All these science videos are making wish I had studied science more in school. Too bad I'm studying accounting and finance at university.

    Reply
  9. Maybe Thermal- Electricity was what I was referring to, but thermocouplers indeed produce electricity via heat, but I have not been in electronic engineering school since basically High School, in 2004, I spent about a week in college, there is a song about it, heh, from probably decades ago or before I went to college. Just like I, Climbed a Mountain & turned around, maybe Fleetwood Mac sings that?. . .

    But, I recall seeing photocells, I believe they were called, they would change resistance proportional to the amount of Lumens it was getting on a platform many 10 mm by 10 mm, to guess. But I was not really a circuit builder or technician, I wanted to know the theories & math behind their properties. Actually, I have been lazy even since I was the upper echelon of the more proactive people, or I get flustered easily by trying to ticker with physical or mechanical things, even electronics have hardware or physical things. But that was in 2001 – 2004, when I set My goals at trying to endeavor to be an electronic engineer, & electronics wasn't that "Cool" back then. Actually, I first had a desktop computer in My house at that time, because My parents didn't have any computers until after the year 2000, to guess. My dad to this day probably doesn't use computers much, he now has a smartphone but probably doesn't have the tech savvy like the younger generations, etc.. So in the year 2000, after I picked electronics at My vocational technical High School, I wasn't even sure what I was getting into, but I figured it would be physically easier than the other trades like plumbing, carpentry & whatnot. Actually, it was within the maybe 1 or 2 years prior to picking electronics that I had a home computer, but I don't recall having a home computer before My dad remarried My step mother, she has a technical computer job since I first met het in like the year 1999 or 2k, to guess. And I recall trying to learn how to go online via the snail mail dial- up computers, it would be like watching grass grow, heh. But I feel that way about My meat head, heh. . .

    Anyways, I also believe the Radiant Heat could not only be at the floors, but walls & ceilings, & not only heat, but the AC, too. And if a natural antifreeze like Propylene Glycol was used, if there were any leaks, it could be used for Vape Juice, heh. That would make baseboard radiators obsolete & unneeded, & more space to put furniture butting against the walls, etc.. It would be invisible heating and cooling. Also, if there was that hot water from the roofs, etc., plumbed into all walls like electrical outlets, during the summer time it could be just a slow current or (almost) stagnant (it could use Head Pressures) until needed, if you wanted hot water in your bedroom yonder from any kitchens & bathrooms, My integrated Fiber Optic Walls could use the (IR) Light to boil it or any desired temps you want. Almost like if you use a Spring Water Hot / Cold tap, at a business or whatnot, even people have them in their homes, I have never yet though, besides seeing it sold at stores & businesses, etc.. But electricity could be replaced by Light for many applications, & Light can also heat things to high temps, like lasers could burn a hole through a steel army tank or a steel ship, etc.. And if like 100% transparent Fiber Optics could be used as a power source of heat or power, light, etc., if it could be safe via the hardware, it could be like an electrical conductor of power, made from maybe Hemp Plastic…? And if all homes didn't need metal conductors like the 12 gauge electrical lines to most outlets & lights, it might be akin to going from candles to oil lamps or from oil lamps to the gas line lights or the gas line lights to electrical conductors, etc.. But maybe the Fiber Optics wouldn't be needed, but only a hollowed tube with the most reflective mirrors lining the inside? And nothing else would be needed except to make sure there are no kinks in the line, because even plumbing cannot work good if there is a kink in the hose, etc.. But this is speculation & I'm just ranting Brain- Storms, heh, like usual. So, the Light could replace metal (like Cooper) wires in houses, & it could produce power like heat & also light, if the desired spectrums were filtered through the mirror tubes, & even AC could be used by these Laser Wires or Laser Lines, because the Light could work the Compressor, everything else is just plumbing systems. And I have prophesied Light motors from year's ago, where Light could turn a shaft to create mechanical motion or spin, which could be used for AC Compressors or even turned to electricity via a generator or like a cars alternator, etc.. Actually, if My memory serves Me correct, I recently postulated that the Solar Ra's could even turn our Earth Ship like a little kids top toy spinner, & creating seasons by regulating the Day / Night cycles, & there wouldn't have to be as frigid cold in the poles during the winter & but the North & South Poles could have the same exact Day / Night cycles, along with everywhere else, no? But if you were at the very ends of the Poles, I guess it would still be cold, unless there were Solar Mirrors sharing a little Light to turn them into maybe Tropical Garden's? Heh. And maybe 2 season's per 365 Days? But the Days would not be a constant 24 hours if this was the case, like if the whole earth ship was in sync during a latter Fall Season, the whole earth ship would have to have lesser days & longer nights, but maybe solar mirrors could even do this without any earth spin? Or the whole earth could have its seasons per like a Dyson Sphere around the earth ship that is derived from the Sun. And the Solar Mirrors would just have to block out Light for the Nights & turn perpendicular during the Day times to allow the Light in, but this is just My Sci-fi via My Spiritual Fantasy for Fans to See, heh. But it's something to ponder & laugh about & speculate & have felicity aspirations towards or things to be entertained by, because its Grand(iose) Design by the Grand(iose) Designer, a real Mega- Low- Maniac here, (no) punny rhetoric to be found, heh. But, I go from notion to notion & Wor(l)d to Wor(l)d & Ship to Ship & from Crazy to Crazy & Delusion to Delusion & from awe to awe or aww to aww, heh, etc.. Actually, don't listen to anything I say as anything but rhetorical rhetoric, as I am like in a Class of My own & a level so far below it's above the rest, as I rest, but life is but a (lucid) Dream, so I will Dream until I am woken up again in another Dream within a Dream, & the Dreams are of Streams flowing like Living Waters that have this Ship full of Life both on the superficial surface & the profound places. And My Dreams of Streams are not only rivers of ocean flowing to bring the Beaches to the people "landlocked," on the surface, but also the middle parts of Earth ship that are apparently magma at magnum proportions, but we can take rides like diving slides, as we inhale the oxygen from the water via electrolysis & drink the fresh clean water vua My short straws, via Straw Man straws, by the Scarecrow or Scared Crow on the Crows Nest of a giant Fiber Optic Tree, etc.. . .

    But, don't mind Me, I don't know any better, and My ignorance is self- evident by axiomatic manifestations of imbecilic proportions of being a Dolt with the Lightning Bolts, heh. . .

    Peace be upon you,
    George Manuel Oliveira

    ~PEACE~

    Reply
  10. Maybe Thermal- Electricity was what I was referring to, but thermocouplers indeed produce electricity via heat, but I have not been in electronic engineering school since basically High School, in 2004, I spent about a week in college, there is a song about it, heh, from probably decades ago or before I went to college. Just like I, Climbed a Mountain & turned around, maybe Fleetwood Mac sings that?. . .

    But, I recall seeing photocells, I believe they were called, they would change resistance proportional to the amount of Lumens it was getting on a platform many 10 mm by 10 mm, to guess. But I was not really a circuit builder or technician, I wanted to know the theories & math behind their properties. Actually, I have been lazy even since I was the upper echelon of the more proactive people, or I get flustered easily by trying to ticker with physical or mechanical things, even electronics have hardware or physical things. But that was in 2001 – 2004, when I set My goals at trying to endeavor to be an electronic engineer, & electronics wasn't that "Cool" back then. Actually, I first had a desktop computer in My house at that time, because My parents didn't have any computers until after the year 2000, to guess. My dad to this day probably doesn't use computers much, he now has a smartphone but probably doesn't have the tech savvy like the younger generations, etc.. So in the year 2000, after I picked electronics at My vocational technical High School, I wasn't even sure what I was getting into, but I figured it would be physically easier than the other trades like plumbing, carpentry & whatnot. Actually, it was within the maybe 1 or 2 years prior to picking electronics that I had a home computer, but I don't recall having a home computer before My dad remarried My step mother, she has a technical computer job since I first met het in like the year 1999 or 2k, to guess. And I recall trying to learn how to go online via the snail mail dial- up computers, it would be like watching grass grow, heh. But I feel that way about My meat head, heh. . .

    Anyways, I also believe the Radiant Heat could not only be at the floors, but walls & ceilings, & not only heat, but the AC, too. And if a natural antifreeze like Propylene Glycol was used, if there were any leaks, it could be used for Vape Juice, heh. That would make baseboard radiators obsolete & unneeded, & more space to put furniture butting against the walls, etc.. It would be invisible heating and cooling. Also, if there was that hot water from the roofs, etc., plumbed into all walls like electrical outlets, during the summer time it could be just a slow current or (almost) stagnant (it could use Head Pressures) until needed, if you wanted hot water in your bedroom yonder from any kitchens & bathrooms, My integrated Fiber Optic Walls could use the (IR) Light to boil it or any desired temps you want. Almost like if you use a Spring Water Hot / Cold tap, at a business or whatnot, even people have them in their homes, I have never yet though, besides seeing it sold at stores & businesses, etc.. But electricity could be replaced by Light for many applications, & Light can also heat things to high temps, like lasers could burn a hole through a steel army tank or a steel ship, etc.. And if like 100% transparent Fiber Optics could be used as a power source of heat or power, light, etc., if it could be safe via the hardware, it could be like an electrical conductor of power, made from maybe Hemp Plastic…? And if all homes didn't need metal conductors like the 12 gauge electrical lines to most outlets & lights, it might be akin to going from candles to oil lamps or from oil lamps to the gas line lights or the gas line lights to electrical conductors, etc.. But maybe the Fiber Optics wouldn't be needed, but only a hollowed tube with the most reflective mirrors lining the inside? And nothing else would be needed except to make sure there are no kinks in the line, because even plumbing cannot work good if there is a kink in the hose, etc.. But this is speculation & I'm just ranting Brain- Storms, heh, like usual. So, the Light could replace metal (like Cooper) wires in houses, & it could produce power like heat & also light, if the desired spectrums were filtered through the mirror tubes, & even AC could be used by these Laser Wires or Laser Lines, because the Light could work the Compressor, everything else is just plumbing systems. And I have prophesied Light motors from year's ago, where Light could turn a shaft to create mechanical motion or spin, which could be used for AC Compressors or even turned to electricity via a generator or like a cars alternator, etc.. Actually, if My memory serves Me correct, I recently postulated that the Solar Ra's could even turn our Earth Ship like a little kids top toy spinner, & creating seasons by regulating the Day / Night cycles, & there wouldn't have to be as frigid cold in the poles during the winter & but the North & South Poles could have the same exact Day / Night cycles, along with everywhere else, no? But if you were at the very ends of the Poles, I guess it would still be cold, unless there were Solar Mirrors sharing a little Light to turn them into maybe Tropical Garden's? Heh. And maybe 2 season's per 365 Days? But the Days would not be a constant 24 hours if this was the case, like if the whole earth ship was in sync during a latter Fall Season, the whole earth ship would have to have lesser days & longer nights, but maybe solar mirrors could even do this without any earth spin? Or the whole earth could have its seasons per like a Dyson Sphere around the earth ship that is derived from the Sun. And the Solar Mirrors would just have to block out Light for the Nights & turn perpendicular during the Day times to allow the Light in, but this is just My Sci-fi via My Spiritual Fantasy for Fans to See, heh. But it's something to ponder & laugh about & speculate & have felicity aspirations towards or things to be entertained by, because its Grand(iose) Design by the Grand(iose) Designer, a real Mega- Low- Maniac here, (no) punny rhetoric to be found, heh. But, I go from notion to notion & Wor(l)d to Wor(l)d & Ship to Ship & from Crazy to Crazy & Delusion to Delusion & from awe to awe or aww to aww, heh, etc.. Actually, don't listen to anything I say as anything but rhetorical rhetoric, as I am like in a Class of My own & a level so far below it's above the rest, as I rest, but life is but a (lucid) Dream, so I will Dream until I am woken up again in another Dream within a Dream, & the Dreams are of Streams flowing like Living Waters that have this Ship full of Life both on the superficial surface & the profound places. And My Dreams of Streams are not only rivers of ocean flowing to bring the Beaches to the people "landlocked," on the surface, but also the middle parts of Earth ship that are apparently magma at magnum proportions, but we can take rides like diving slides, as we inhale the oxygen from the water via electrolysis & drink the fresh clean water vua My short straws, via Straw Man straws, by the Scarecrow or Scared Crow on the Crows Nest of a giant Fiber Optic Tree, etc.. . .

    But, don't mind Me, I don't know any better, and My ignorance is self- evident by axiomatic manifestations of imbecilic proportions of being a Dolt with the Lightning Bolts, heh. . .

    Peace be upon you,
    George Manuel Oliveira

    ~PEACE~

    Reply
  11. Heh, I was wondering how to store Light in a bottle / container the other day. See My YouTube channel. I believe this liquid doesn't store light per se, but it is like a liquid capacitor that stores power, not Light per se. And I am sure that both these could have potential, the solar cells are good for off- grid places, but it might be more efficient to use large enough black heatsinks & use the thermal radiation into hot water for the house, or even radiant heat. And if the hot water could be turned to electricity via thermocouple devices or electronics that convert heat to electricity, this might be just as good as solar cells. And this hot water heater from maybe on roofs, it could be integrated into the roofs itself, to cool the roofs & replace the wasted heat from the Sun just burning the shingles, etc.. And I assume that these plumbing heatsinks on roofs, it would probably be much cheaper than many or most solar cells today, it would be the difference between brittle or possibly breakable solar panels that could break from impacts, to a plumbing system that could be Inline &/or in Parallel circuits. And if the plumbing circuits were almost flat on the roof with say almost no wasted roof space, maybe 2 inches deep, it could harvest maybe more than solar panels, because solar panels don't convert the heat to electricity, I believe or guess. And the winter time could use an organic or natural antifreeze solution, & it could actually defrost the snow to enable the solar radiation to be better absorbed by the heatsink plumbing systems, etc.. And maybe a clear Hemp plastic insulator like windows have, to help convert the maximum amount of radiation to usable power for your house, especially in winter. And if the thermocouple devices could very efficiently convert heat to electricity, the solar panels would be obsolete. Actually I recall seeing in houses overseas like Asia's, using a circuit of black pipes to harvest hot water. But the one's I saw were not like I am saying, they were very primitive & like maybe 4 inch PVC pipes were painted black, & that was basically it. But if My plumbing circuits had smaller pipes, even 1 or 2 inche wide runs that are joined together like if a long stick folding ruler was made to be parallel everywhere except the ends. But the run itself might be dozens of feet long or more. And, the gutters could put that into your house reservoir & later cleaned for consumption, etc.. And the notion of solar panels seems obsolete, My notion could potentially be more efficient & much cheaper & might last hundreds of years, because it's just a plumbing system of Hemp Plastic that is made to last like everything a normal climate can throw, whether at the equators in a desert or at the North Pole, etc.. And, I could be wrong, but plastic sheets of pipes would most always be cheaper & easier to install than the solar panel systems. Maybe all one would need to do is connect a quick disconnect plug from the house input to the roof input & likewise for the outputs. And these could even be used to run an AC system, by compressing the AC coolent & allowing it to expand naturally without any electricity. And if the house had free hot water, free heat, free AC, & free electrical power, it would save the poor much precious monies they need to live nowadays. But I tried to write about My notions the other day, but if heat can be turned to electricity, this would be arguably better than solar panel systems. . .

    Peace be upon you,
    George Manuel Oliveira

    ~PEACE~

    Reply

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