Batteries: Device that stores liquid sunshine could one day power your phone

A system for trapping sunlight as thermal energy within molecules and then converting it to electricity could be a portable replacement for batteries

By Rachel Parsons

A rechargeable device that stores thermal energy from the sun in a liquid or solid form and converts it to electricity when needed could one day be used to power your smartphone and eliminate the need for batteries.

Kasper Moth-Poulsen at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, and his colleagues have designed a substance consisting of molecules made up of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen that is capable of storing solar energy for months or even years.

The molecules change shape when hit by light from …