Blinded me with science!

Great story about a breakthrough in solar power at MIT.

Seriously, this could be one of those great breakthroughs in science that changes everything,

The amount of solar energy that hits the Earth in one hour is enough to to completely replace all other means of energy production on the whole planet for an entire year. Even with the ineffecient nature of today's solar panels you could still generate plenty of power from the sun....but what about when it's dark?

There have been all kinds of proposed solutions to this scenario. Ranging from huge microwave power transmitters beaming energy around the globe to a new "global" power grid that literally spans the entire planet. Even enourmous orbiting mirrors that could reflect light around the planet to solar collection sites at night. The problem is that electrical transmission is also ineffecient and the infrastructure, in whatever form, is insanely expensive to build which makes the construction of "global" grids exteremely unlikely. What is needed is an effecient means of storing the excess solar power that is collected during the day for use at night.

Modern batteries can be used but they are expensive, bulky and not particularly friendly to the environment. There have been attempts to use solar energy to power electrolyzers that "crack" water into hydrogen and oxygen. You can then use the resulted stored gases to generate power at night via a fuel cell or even a gas turbine. Those systems work but traditional electrolyzers are bulky, complex and really only usable in industrial settings. But the scientists at MIT have found a simple way to electolyze water by mimicking a plant's process of photosynthesis.

It's brilliant!