A hybrid device of lithium battery that recharges via solar cell stands to revolutionize the solar energy technology. 

In the latest issue of the journal Nature Communications, researchers from The Ohio State University have successfully integrated a redox-coupled dye-systesized photoelectrode into a non-aqueous rechargeable lithium-oxygen battery to create the world's first solar battery. 

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A typical solar power runs when photovoltaic panels capture sunlight and convert it into electricity that are then used to run electrons. But the process to transfer electrons from a solar panel into a battery is hugely inefficient because only 80 percent of the electrons make it. 

The solution to the problem is presented with the invention that converts light into electrons inside the battery.

The new process can save almost all the electrons and thus, can likely improve the efficiency by 100 percent. It can also reduce the cost of solar power to nearly 25 percent, according to Professor Yiying Wu, who led the invention of the new technology. 

The ingenous design is a mesh of solar panel made from titanium gauze with titanium dioxide, which permits air to enter the battery. 

It works when the solar panel absorbs light that breaks apart lithium peroxide to produce lithium ions and oxygen inside the battery. The oxygen goes into the air while the lithium ions remain stored in the battery. During recharge, the battery chemically acquire oxygen from the air to form again lithium peroxide. 

Wu describe the technology as a "breathing battery" due to the fact that it breathes in the air when discharged and breathes out when charged. 

The solar battery is almost ready for production and its design will be licensed for industrial partners, where it can tame the cost of solar power. 

"The state of the art is to use a solar panel to capture the light and a cheap battery to store the energy," detailed Wu. "We have integrated both functions into one device. Anytime you do that, you reduce the cost."

TagsSolar Battery, First Solar Battery