SoylentNews

mcgrew [mcgrewbooks.com] writes:

NBC News reports [nbcnews.com] that a team at Ohio University led by chemist Yiying Wu have developed a solar battery.

Rather than a solar panel collecting energy and transferring that energy to a battery, which is a wasteful process, this solar cell is the battery itself. As much as 20% of a normal solar cell's output is normally wasted charging a normal battery. NBC says

The solar-sensitive part is porous, and gives access to a battery layer that attaches and detaches oxygen from lithium ions to store energy. "Basically, it's a breathing battery," Wu explained in a news release.

The abstract is here. [nature.com]

Thinking about this, it probably won't show up in your phone, but when this is perfected you'll see them on rooftops.

---

Original Submission