A new material could harvest sunlight by day, release heat on demand hours or days later. This transparent polymer film could be applied to many different surfaces, such as window glass or clothing.
The new finding could provide a highly efficient method for storing the sun’s energy through a chemical reaction and releasing it later as heat.
The key to enabling long-term, stable storage of solar heat, the team says, is to store it in the form of a chemical change rather than storing the heat itself.
Jeffrey Grossman - Professor
David Zhitomirsky - Postdoc
MIT - Know more