In order to save money and energy, many people are purchasing hybrid electric cars or installing solar panels on the roofs of their homes. But both have a problem — the technology to store the electrical power and energy is inadequate. Battery systems that fit in cars don’t hold enough energy for driving distances, yet take hours to recharge and don’t give much power for acceleration. Renewable sources like solar and wind deliver significant power only part time, but devices to store their energy are expensive and too inefficient to deliver enough power for surge demand. Researchers at the Maryland NanoCenter at the University of Maryland have developed new systems for storing electrical energy derived from alternative sources that are, in some cases, 10 times more efficient than what is commercially available. The results of their research are available in the latest issue of Nature Nanotechnology. ‘Renewable energy sources like solar and wind provide time-varying, somewhat unpredictable energy supply, which must be captured and stored as electrical energy until demanded,’ said Gary Rubloff, director of the University of Maryland’s NanoCenter. ‘Conventional devices to store and deliver electrical energy — batteries and capacitors — cannot achieve the needed […]