High-efficiency solar thermoelectric conversion enabled by movable charging of molten salts

Abstract Solar energy as an abundant renewable resource has been investigated for many years. Solar thermoelectric conversion technology, which converts solar energy into thermal energy and then into electricity, has been developed and implemented in many important fields. The operation of solar–the...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Chao Chang, Zongyu Wang, Benwei Fu, Yulong Ji
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2020
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/cde6c7ffa03948268ecbeca257df4da2
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:cde6c7ffa03948268ecbeca257df4da2
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:cde6c7ffa03948268ecbeca257df4da22021-12-02T15:09:48ZHigh-efficiency solar thermoelectric conversion enabled by movable charging of molten salts10.1038/s41598-020-77442-y2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/cde6c7ffa03948268ecbeca257df4da22020-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-77442-yhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Solar energy as an abundant renewable resource has been investigated for many years. Solar thermoelectric conversion technology, which converts solar energy into thermal energy and then into electricity, has been developed and implemented in many important fields. The operation of solar–thermal–electric conversion systems, however, is strongly affected by the intermittency of solar radiation, which requires installation of thermal storage subsystems. In this work, we demonstrated a new solar–thermal–electric conversion system that consists of a thermoelectric converter and a rapidly charging thermal storage subsystem. A magnetic-responsive solar–thermal mesh was used as the movable charging source to convert incident concentrated sunlight into high-temperature heat, which can induce solid-to-liquid phase transition of molten salts. Driven by the external magnetic field, the solar–thermal mesh can move together with the receding solid–liquid interface thus rapidly storing the harvested solar–thermal energy within the molten salts. By connecting with a thermoelectric generator, the harvested solar–thermal energy can be further converted into electricity with a solar–thermal–electric energy conversion efficiency up to 2.56%, and the converted electrical energy can simultaneously light up more than 40 orange-colored LEDs. In addition to stable operation under sunlight, the charged thermal storage subsystem can release the stored heat and thus enables the solar–thermal–electric system to continuously generate electricity after removal of solar illumination.Chao ChangZongyu WangBenwei FuYulong JiNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Chao Chang Zongyu Wang Benwei Fu Yulong Ji High-efficiency solar thermoelectric conversion enabled by movable charging of molten salts
description	Abstract Solar energy as an abundant renewable resource has been investigated for many years. Solar thermoelectric conversion technology, which converts solar energy into thermal energy and then into electricity, has been developed and implemented in many important fields. The operation of solar–thermal–electric conversion systems, however, is strongly affected by the intermittency of solar radiation, which requires installation of thermal storage subsystems. In this work, we demonstrated a new solar–thermal–electric conversion system that consists of a thermoelectric converter and a rapidly charging thermal storage subsystem. A magnetic-responsive solar–thermal mesh was used as the movable charging source to convert incident concentrated sunlight into high-temperature heat, which can induce solid-to-liquid phase transition of molten salts. Driven by the external magnetic field, the solar–thermal mesh can move together with the receding solid–liquid interface thus rapidly storing the harvested solar–thermal energy within the molten salts. By connecting with a thermoelectric generator, the harvested solar–thermal energy can be further converted into electricity with a solar–thermal–electric energy conversion efficiency up to 2.56%, and the converted electrical energy can simultaneously light up more than 40 orange-colored LEDs. In addition to stable operation under sunlight, the charged thermal storage subsystem can release the stored heat and thus enables the solar–thermal–electric system to continuously generate electricity after removal of solar illumination.
format	article
author	Chao Chang Zongyu Wang Benwei Fu Yulong Ji
author_facet	Chao Chang Zongyu Wang Benwei Fu Yulong Ji
author_sort	Chao Chang
title	High-efficiency solar thermoelectric conversion enabled by movable charging of molten salts
title_short	High-efficiency solar thermoelectric conversion enabled by movable charging of molten salts
title_full	High-efficiency solar thermoelectric conversion enabled by movable charging of molten salts
title_fullStr	High-efficiency solar thermoelectric conversion enabled by movable charging of molten salts
title_full_unstemmed	High-efficiency solar thermoelectric conversion enabled by movable charging of molten salts
title_sort	high-efficiency solar thermoelectric conversion enabled by movable charging of molten salts
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/cde6c7ffa03948268ecbeca257df4da2
work_keys_str_mv	AT chaochang highefficiencysolarthermoelectricconversionenabledbymovablechargingofmoltensalts AT zongyuwang highefficiencysolarthermoelectricconversionenabledbymovablechargingofmoltensalts AT benweifu highefficiencysolarthermoelectricconversionenabledbymovablechargingofmoltensalts AT yulongji highefficiencysolarthermoelectricconversionenabledbymovablechargingofmoltensalts
_version_	1718387780090855424

High-efficiency solar thermoelectric conversion enabled by movable charging of molten salts

Ejemplares similares