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New Research Shows How Liquid Sunlight Could Charge Your Phone

You may soon be able to charge your phone using liquid sunlight. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden have created a rechargeable device that stores solar thermal energy in a liquid or solid form and converts it to electricity when required. The team behind the research hope it could one day power your smartphone and eliminate the need for batteries. Research leader Kasper Moth-Poulsen says: “This is a radically new way of generating electricity from solar energy. It means that we can use solar energy to produce electricity regardless of weather, time of day, season, or geographical location.”. The technology is based on a specially designed molecule that changes shape when it comes into contact with sunlight. The researchers partnered with colleagues Tao Li and Zhiyu Hu at Shanghai Jiao Tong University where the energy was released and converted into electricity. This meant that in effect Swedish sunshine was sent to the other side of the world and converted into electricity in China.