Solar eureka? Not so fast!
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say they have discovered a cheap and easy way to convert solar energy into energy that can power homes and cars. Already it is being touted by some as a "giant leap" and "major discovery that has enormous implications" for mankind.
But at least one solar technology researcher at Sandia National Laboratories says it's a bit early to break out the champagne. While the MIT crew may have a significant discovery, "I don't think they can go so far as to say this will lead to a revolution in solar energy," said Nathan Siegel.
In a news release MIT saidchemistry professor Daniel Nocera and his team created a new type of catalyst using the abundant, nontoxic materials cobalt and phosphate. When the catalyst is placed in water and given an electric charge from a solar panel, it creates bubbles of oxygen. Different catalysts, including platinum, can be used similarly to produce hydrogen. The two gases can be stored and later combined in a fuel cell to make carbon-free electricity, according to MIT.
"This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," Nocera said in the release. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon."
A prominent researcher in the field of photosynthesis, James Barber of the Imperial College London, told MIT that the discovery was a "giant leap" toward generating clean energy on an industrial scale. "The importance of their discovery cannot be overstated since it opens up the door for developing new technologies for energy production thus reducing our dependence for fossil fuels and addressing the global climate change problem," he said.
Nocera said he hopes homeowners within 10 years can derive their daily power needs from the sun, through photovoltaic cells, anduse his new process and a fuel cell to power their homes at night and to recharge their electric cars.
The catalyst work is among the first to come out of MIT's Solar Revolution Project, which was funded in April with a $10 million grant from the Chesonis Family Foundation. Nocera, who is director of the project, said at the time that the goal is to make solar power competitive on the world energy market in 10 years.
But if the process of using electricity to create hydrogen and oxygen sounds familiar, that's because it is, Sandia's Siegel told The Independent. It's called electrolysis, and basically what the MIT teamdid was discovered a low-cost electrolyzer, he said.
After reading the MIT release, Siegel, who works in Sandia's Solar Technologies Group, said he doesn't see much to crow about. "They don't tell you how good it is" at creating oxygen or hydrogen or how the new catalyst compares with previous types," he said.
But more importantly, he said, they don't address the critical issue that has faced hydrogen researchers for decades — how to store it. Hydrogen is so light and its molecules are so tiny that it's very difficult to store in volumes large enough to be usable, Siegel said. "After you make it, what do you do with it?" The MIT release glosses over that part, he said.
Energy storage is what is holding back the solar industry, he said, not the lack of hydrogen.
Sandia is working to improve the first part of Nocera's system — the photovoltaic cells that could be used to power homes. Its goal is to "increase the world-wide use of photovoltaic power systems by reducing cost, improving reliability, increasing performance, removing barriers and growing markets," according to the labs' Photovoltaic Systems Research & Development Web site.
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