A Heat Storage Game Changer.

[I Think]

The finding, by MIT professor Jeffrey Grossman, postdoc David Zhitomirsky, and graduate student Eugene Cho, is described in a paper in the journal Advanced Energy Materials. The key to enabling long-term, stable storage of solar heat, the team says, is to store it in the form of a chemical change rather than storing the heat itself. Whereas heat inevitably dissipates over time no matter how good the insulation around it, a chemical storage system can retain the energy indefinitely in a stable molecular configuration, until its release is triggered by a small jolt of heat (or light or electricity).
A new way to store solar heat
In the researchers’ platform for testing macroscopic heat release, a heating element provides sufficient energy to trigger the solar thermal fuel materials, while an infrared camera monitors the temperature. The charged film (right) …more
Molecules with two configurations
The key is a molecule that can remain stable in either of two different configurations. When exposed to sunlight, the energy of the light kicks the molecules into their "charged" configuration, and they can stay that way for long periods. Then, when triggered by a very specific temperature or other stimulus, the molecules snap back to their original shape, giving off a burst of heat in the process.
Such chemically-based storage materials, known as solar thermal fuels (STF), have been developed before, including in previous work by Grossman and his team. But those earlier efforts "had limited utility in solid-state applications" because they were designed to be used in liquid solutions and not capable of making durable solid-state films, Zhitomirsky says. The new approach is the first based on a solid-state material, in this case a polymer, and the first based on inexpensive materials and widespread manufacturing technology.


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-01-material-h ... d.html#jCp

[Jlabute]

Well, this 'game changer' has been around a while, storing heat in chemical form (like re-usable heating pads although requiring more energy to change state than they give off). If one can meet and exceed the band-gap energy required to store heat energy in a chemical form on a cold winter day and gather enough of it, one could possibly release that energy at will... although, the terminology used in the article is 'could', and 'may be possible'. Perhaps, it includes storing the energy from hot summer days when it is more abundant, and expend it in the winter. To warm up a home, it could take a large chemical battery, plus the costs there-of. I suppose we will eventually see if it is environmentally worth it, and not prohibitively expensive, and doesn't require an excavation of ones entire basement.

Personally, I've been waiting for memristors which were promised years ago. They get lots of press coverage and are also a game changer. Every time the 'commercialization' date comes about, the date gets pushed out a few more years (for at least the 4th time already) While HP spends millions on development, there are many critics who say it is technically impossible.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memristor

[I Think]

Well, this appears to be the first solid that can retain energy applied as heat, to be released on demand.
Possibly it will start with things like windshields and seat heaters, and progress to whole house systems.
A sectional array that stores heat in the day and releases it section by section in the night.
Or even eventually releases summers heat through the winter.