MIT is preparing to announce a new innovation in power storage. MIT professor Dan Nocera introduced a new picture for the energy economy at the Aspen Environment Forum.

According to professor Nocera, all our energy resources and power production, when taking into account power consumption growth, and with 100% savings in current energy use (!), will take us only as far as 2050. His estimate is that we will need about a 16 TW energy production by then, something not achievable with current methods.

The new patent, to be announced next week, will provide a cheap, efficient and manufacturable electrolyzer. The new electrolyzer is going to be made from cobalt and potassium phosphate. Paired with a photovoltaic array on a roof, for example, this system can easily provide power for an average home and additional power for a fuel cell and about 500 km of travel. Best of all, it will take only about 5 liters of water to do this!

This could be a great development that could decentralize power production, giving energy independence to consumers.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed two new types of chemical etching which can create features on both the micron and nanometer level. The new surface treatmend methods could help increase light absorption of silicon photovoltaic cells. Absorption is increased by trapping light in three-dimensional structures, created by the etching processes, but also by making the surfaces self-cleanable. Rain and dew can easily wash away dust and dirt that can accumulate on PV cells due to various atmospheric conditions. The surface is classified as superhydrophobic (makes water molecules bead up and roll off).

As is usually the case, nature has already done it, and in this case that hold true. The concept of superhydrophobic surfaces is not new, as can be seen in the case of a lotus leaf, which also uses surface roughnes at two levels to create the bead and roll off effect.

I don't want to overwhelm you with the scientific details of the process, you can see them here if you wish, but the point is that silicon PV cells will now be able to produce more power as less light will be reflected. In fact, Georgia Tech School professor Dennis Hess claims the reflection could be reduced to a mere 5% which is outstanding.

And now the "but's" have to come in, as they usually do with technological advancements. The delicate surface roughness at such a miniscule level is prone to damage from surface abbrasions (ex. sandstorms), which could impede the cells' ability to take in more light energy. The solution may to create large superhydrophobic surfaces, so any damage would be minute compared to the overall absorption surface available.