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					</table><p>Researchers at the <a href="https://www.tum.de/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Technical University of Munich</a> have claimed that certain crystalline materials can convert solar energy into electrical energy and store it long enough to have practical applications in off-grid energy distribution.</p>
<p>The material &#8211; rhenium-functionalized 3D metal-organic framework (MOF) – can be recharged with 90% of the initial charging capacity retained.</p>
<p>“This study serves as the seminal report on 3D porous colloids achieving photo-accumulation of long-lived electrons, unlocking dark photocatalysis and a path toward solar capacitor and solar battery systems,” the study said.</p>
<p>In nature, water oxidation is a light-driven process, while the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle is a light-independent or dark process that converts electrons to carbohydrates as energy carriers. This decoupled electron storage and photoelectric conversion model can be mimicked artificially to develop off-grid solutions for intermittent and rapidly growing energy requirements.</p>
<p>The study reported 3D porous colloids achieving photo-accumulation of long-lived electrons and unlocking dark photocatalysis, thereby leading a path toward solar capacitor and solar battery systems.</p>
<p>MOFs are three-dimensional crystalline materials composed of organic linkers and metal-based nodes that collectively form networks with permanent porosity. Due to their combinatorial versatility, MOFs are used as battery separators, water-splitting materials, and supercapacitors.</p>
<p>The study found that these 3D matrices can be interfaced with discrete coordination complexes for light-driven oxidations and solar fuel production applications. The synthesized hybrid materials accumulated and stored electric charges under visible light irradiation during the presence of an electron source.</p>
<p>A 0.9% solar-to-output energy storage and conversion efficiency were achieved, and the charges were successfully stored for four weeks with negligible loss. The hybrid materials displayed a rechargeable electron delivery and storage behavior with only 1% capacity loss per cycle and 11% loss after ten cycles, unlike other rhenium-based hybrids and homogenous rhenium molecular catalysts that show catalytic activity.</p>
<p>However, charge storage at 45 °C and above led to fast capacity loss.</p>
<p>Although the capacity loss was higher compared to state-of-the-art photo capacitors that retain more than 95% capacity even after thousand cycles, the observation effectively demonstrated the feasibility of using MOF-based materials for energy storage. Additionally, the hybrid material displayed chemical stability, and its production can be scaled affordably and sustainably due to the use of low-cost and off-the-shelf linkers.</p>
<p>The charge stored by the hybrid material was released on-demand and in the dark when it was coupled with an electrocatalyst to drive hydrogen production catalysis and redox reactions to realize decoupled, off-grid photoelectrochemical energy release and storage that mimicked the light and dark cycles of natural photosynthesis.</p>
<p>Recently, a researcher from the University of Houston <a href="https://mercomindia.com/researcher-finds-novel-energy-harvesting-system-can-enable-use-of-solar-power-24-7/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> a novel type of solar energy harvesting system that could make way for using solar power 24/7.</p>
<p>In July last year, two researchers from the School of Engineering and Sustainable Development, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom, and a researcher from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, <a href="https://mercomindia.com/gravity-based-storage-devised-rooftop/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">designed</a> a residential solar-plus-storage system based on gravity. They proposed a design model for conserving and utilizing energy affordably, considering the increasing support of renewable energy sources for cheaper electricity generation and solar energy potential.</p>


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