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Solar energy

Packing heat

Nature Chemistry volume 6, pages 385–386 (2014)Cite this article

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Nanoscopic templates functionalized with light-reactive chromophores could ultimately be used to store solar energy and later release it as heat. Now, it has been shown that packing the chromophores together increases both storage capacity and lifetime.

One of the greatest barriers to widespread adoption of renewable energy produced from sunlight is our ability to store this energy for later use. Whether for a few hours after maximum solar intensity at 'high noon' to power air conditioners on a hot summer evening, or for many months following the summer solstice to provide homes with light and heat in the dead of winter, storage is a necessary component of an energy system based on renewable solar power. Writing in Nature Chemistry, Tim Kucharski and co-workers present1 a unique concept for storing solar energy in molecules attached to nanostructured templates.

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Figure 1: Storing solar energy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nathan R. Neale is at the Chemical and Materials Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA,

    Nathan R. Neale

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  1. Nathan R. Neale
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Correspondence to Nathan R. Neale.

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Neale, N. Packing heat. Nature Chem 6, 385–386 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1933

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