New sunrise in solar technology

Scientists have found a new way to store energy from the sun.

While the sun produces enough energy in one hour to power all the vehicles, factories and houses on the planet for an entire year, the biggest stumbling block for solar power developments is that there is no effective way to store energy for later use.

Currently, the most cost-effective way to store solar energy is in batteries, but this is very expensive and not viable for large-scale use.

However, scientists from the Energy Frontier Research Centre at the University of North Carolina have found a way to use the sun's energy to split a water atom into hydrogen and oxygen and then to use the hydrogen as a fuel that can be stored for later use.

"So-called 'solar fuels' like hydrogen offer a way to store energy for night-time use by taking a cue from natural photosynthesis," said Tom Meyer, Arey Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at UNC's College of Arts and Sciences in a statement. "Our new findings may provide a last major piece of a puzzle for a new way to store the sun's energy. It could be a tipping point for a solar energy future."

But splitting water is extremely difficult to do.

"You need to take four electrons away from two water molecules, transfer them somewhere else, and make hydrogen; and, once you have done that, keep the hydrogen and oxygen separated. How to design molecules capable of doing that is a really big challenge," Meyer said.