dsnodgrass

This could be huge.

In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a
marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT
researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power:
storing energy for use when the sun doesn’t shine.

Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because
storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and
grossly inefficient. With today’s announcement, MIT researchers have
hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing
solar energy.

Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this
discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of
all: the sun. “This is the nirvana of what we’ve been talking about for
years,” said MIT’s Daniel Nocera,
the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a
paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. “Solar power
has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think
about solar power as unlimited and soon.”