"In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine."

Rest of the story here:
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oxygen-0731.html

 

OK, the great leap forward is to use electricity from a solar cell to electrolyze water?

Actually if you read the article, the great leap forward is apparently a more efficient catalyst to produce oxygen. It has NOTHING to do with solar power - any electrical source will do. They make it seem like with their breakthrough solar power now becomes useful. Feh. Like there were no other ways to store power generated by solar cells. They also ignore the problems of hydrogen storage. Man I hate articles where the headline is a completely stretch. It seems we should expect better from MIT.

 

They seem to have really gone downhill recently, the press release about wireless power was pretty useless as well - it's like they really feel they have to announce something, but no one has done anything interesting?.

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It also depends on the yield of the oxygen and hydrogen produced. By what the article sounds like it sounds as if there is tons of oxygen being produced.

A fake quote from the guy
"We got bubbles, and lots of them!"

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MechTronics

World of Warcraft is a disease

 

Maybe they just want to be part of the momentum HHO.

Media now a day's ? go figure.


kv

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In many areas peak air conditioning usage occurs while the sun is still shining. We need less expensive and more efficient solar cells, and then talk about storage.

 

Actually, the issue for PV is watts/$ invested. The current trend is towards lower efficiency but much cheaper manufacturing costs (article in EE times from 2 weeks ago).

 

In another thread we were establishing the idea of usage and storage on the peak hour instead of just storing the power rather putting it directly back into the grid via AC converter.

It could work if everyone participating has the home grid input system built when the home was designed.

Therefor, if the hole block of housing would be acting as one package system together you might have a stable system with more combined wattage output.

This would include weather the home has residents or not.

This also is doable when you have major Electric Transport Systems and business then are contributing into an overall system in the downtown districts during peak hours of transport.

The combination of such idea's in a long-term solution without regard to current solar technology's ability to increase wattage output.

Thereby benefitting our needs right now and cutting the overall dollar that can be useful in Solar cell development research.
kv

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There are many ways to store the power from intermittent sources. For example in Denmark, I believe, they have been experimenting with using excess wind generated electricity to increase the cooling of ice plants beyond their normal set point. This saves a fair amount of energy because it takes longer before they need to run the refrigeration units. The Economist article said that it yielded something like a 30% decrease in grid power usage.

I could imagine a similar idea for residential HVAC. Have a preheat or precool sump that takes the excess power. 30 years ago my Dad built a solar collector for hot water preheat. It worked really well. There was a noticable decrease in the electricity bills. Less efficient than H2 storage with fuel cell generation but much cheaper to build.

 

My former employer has a giant (water?) storage facility that they cool at night when the outside temperature is lower, and then use it in the daytime to supply cooling capacity to the HVAC.

 

Heck, that happens everytime I fart in the tub

I agree here. In my condo, our hot water supply is ran through a solar type panel (Damn big panels too) on the roof of our the building. During sunny periods, the water is heated via solar panels. There are temp monitors tied into the system that signals the main heater when more power is needed to reach the correct water temp.

Not the best system in the world, but it does make use of simple solar power and according to condo board members, it does save money as we do have historical data, and also had to bypass the panels a few times for repairs. It was noted that during panel down time, water heating bills rose.

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You might have a look at Dinorwig power station

http://www.wales-underground.org.uk/electric/

I went there a number of years ago, a VERY impressive place - it uses off peak electricity to pump water up the mountain into a lake, then releases it during peak demand.

Incidently, that same week I went to C.A.T. (Centre for Alternative Technology) and a nuclear power station that was in the process of been decommissioned - all these are close to each other in North Wales - it was a very interesting week.

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