Help with solar energy?

Question:

My question is what besides solar panels and zeolites can store solar energy? Our project is about using nanotechnology to store solar energy. We are trying to think and look of something that may store solar energy and is much like chloroplasts (if possible). Thank you

Answer:
theoretically you could use chloroplasts as a sort of "cyborg" nano tech.
you would just need a supporting environment (like that of the cell)

Solar panels do not store energy, they convert sunlight to electricity, storage is in batteries if any storage is done at all. Not everyone stores what they produce, many back-feed into the utility, then the utility "owes" them whatever they have fed in. I was unaware of zeolites being able to store energy, I do know they are used in fuel production and that they absorb gasses and liquids.

The energy produced and possibly stored by a solar panel is DC voltage and must be converted to AC via an inverter if one wants to use it on standard house stuff or feed it into the utility grid. Using a medium other than batteries such as chloroplasts introduces a whole new method of using the stored energy, how to "connect" to and withdraw and convert. I hope it proves better than the lead-acid junk used now.

Given you secondary input: I think the chloropalsts is an ineresting thought. Many things store energy and then dispense it. Animate objects typically dispense it to live. Inanimate objects dispense it period. Take a rock, absorbs heat and therefore exceeds ambient temperature while in the sun, then dispenses heat as the temperature drops until ambience is reached when there is no sun. The difficult thing is finding something that will not only store efficiently but enable retrieval in a form you may use. Even solar panels are very "inefficient" when compared to 100%, like maybe th 12-17% range.

Help with solar energy?

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