MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to store solar powerPhotovoltaics (PV) is the field of technology and research related to the application of solar cells for energy by converting sunlight directly into electricity. Solar power is sometimes used as a synonym to refer to electricity generated from solar radiation. for use when the sun doesn’t shine. The new process will allow the sun’s energyThe ability to perform work, mainly kinetic, potential, thermal energy, but also in forms of gravitational, sound, elastic and electromagnetic energy. to be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. Later, the oxygen and hydrogen may be recombined inside a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricityA form of energy having magnetic, radiant and chemical effects. Electric current is created by a flow of electrons. day or night. The developers, Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and Matthew Kanan, a postdoctoral fellow in Nocera’s laboratory are describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. More engineering work needs to be done to integrate the new scientific discovery into existing photovoltaicPhotovoltaics (PV) is the field of technology and research related to the application of solar cells for energy by converting sunlight directly into electricity. Solar power is sometimes used as a synonym to refer to electricity generated from solar radiation. systems, but Nocera hopes that within 10 years, for instance, homeowners will be able to powerUseful energy can be mechanical energy, for example powering a fan. their homes in daylight through solar cells, while using excess solar energySolar energy is the light and radiant heat from the Sun that influences Earth's climate and weather and sustains life. For solar energy as a source for renewable energy, look up photovoltaics (solar power) or solar thermal energy. to produce hydrogen and oxygen to power their own household fuel cellA device producing electricity at high efficiency using a fuel and a chemical (usually an oxidizer) that reacts with it at two separate terminals, producing electricity.. James Barber, the Ernst Chain Professor of Biochemistry at Imperial College London, who was not involved in this research, called the discovery by Nocera and Kanan a “giant leap” toward generating carbon-free energy on a massive scale.