Energy storage battery is charged by light

What happens when a battery is charged?

When the battery undergoes charging, an external energy supply is linked to it, leading to the flow of a charging current that facilitates a reversible electrochemical process between the cathode and anode inside the battery. It converts the electrical energy into chemical energy, which is then stored in the battery.

How does light charge a battery?

After light charging, the battery is discharged galvanostatically in either light or dark. As shown in Figure 5 d, the voltage increases to ∼2.82 V when illuminated for 5 h (λ ∼455 nm, intensity ∼12 mW cm –2), and this increases to ∼3.0 V after prolonged illumination (see Figure S11a).

Can photoelectric charge generation and charge storage work together?

They often need to be coupled to batteries that store the captured energy, but researchers have now built a device that combines photoelectric charge generation with charge storage. The excited electrons can be retained for at least a week, until they are discharged as an electric current.

What is a solar battery?

Solar batteries, combining both solar cells and batteries in the same device, are a novel decentralized and integrated approach to renewable energy supply. Such a design is proposed to minimize losses caused by charge extraction from the solar cell, wiring, and voltage or current mismatch.

How does a solar battery work?

The device relies on a bifunctional carbon nitride photoanode to harvest sunlight and store its energy via trapped electrons. Solar batteries, combining both solar cells and batteries in the same device, are a novel decentralized and integrated approach to renewable energy supply.

How can photobatteries improve energy conversion & storage?

To improve the efficiency of this energy conversion and storage process, photobatteries have recently been proposed where one of the battery electrodes is made from a photoactive material that can directly be charged by light without using solar cells.