WASHINGTON: Researchers have designed the first aqueous flow battery with solar capability that can achieve a 20 per cent energy savings over traditional batteries.
Researchers at The Ohio State University had developed the world’s first solar air battery last fall.
In a new study, the researchers have reported that their patent-pending design – which combines a solar cell and a battery into a single device – now achieves a 20 per cent energy savings over traditional lithium-iodine batteries.
The 20 per cent comes from sunlight, which is captured by a unique solar panel on top of the battery, said Yiying Wu, professor at Ohio State.
The solar panel is a solid sheet, rather than a mesh as in the previous design. Another key difference comes from the use of a water-based electrolyte inside the battery.
Because water circulates inside it, the new design belongs to an emerging class of batteries called aqueous flow batteries.
“The truly important innovation here is that we’ve successfully demonstrated aqueous flow inside our solar battery,” Wu said.
As such, it is the first aqueous flow battery with solar capability. Or, as Wu and his team have dubbed it, the first “aqueous solar flow battery.
