Team From UT Arlington Develops Solar Energy Storage Cell For Nighttime Conversion
The new solar cell is an all-vanadium photo-electrochemical flow cell that can function in the dark, providing large-scale solar energy storage even during nighttime. The study documents an important relationship between electron storage and the all-vanadium electrolytes, resulting in a high capacity for electron storage and a marked improvement in its photocurrent and reversibility.
Lead author of the project, Dr. Dong Liu says that the innovation releases stored electrons under dark conditions, thus continuing solar energy storage. The cell also provides the advantage of a higher energy storage capacity within a smaller unit.
The team believes the use of an all-vanadium cell will prove to be an advancement over current solar cells that are often hindered by local conditions and subjected to intermittent sunlight.
A larger prototype is currently being developed.
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