The novel solar battery invented by Ohio State University scientists that combines a solar panel and battery storage, which increases both efficiency and lowers cost for consuming solar energy, and could revolutionize the current green energy industry.

“Right now, in order to use renewable energy, we have to use solar panels, but we have to save the energy, so then we also need to use batteries,” said Yiying Wu, a chemistry and biochemistry professor at Ohio State University and lead scientist on the project, to the Columbus Dispatch. “So, from the manufacturing point of view and the installation point of view, it’s quite expensive.”

For the first time, the invention offers a viable solution to a long standing problem that has plagued the solar energy industry: efficient transfer of energy from collection through storage. There have been many attempts in the past to condense the solar electricity generation process.

“A few people have tried on linking these two parts through a ‘mechanical’ or ‘physical’ connection,” said Mingzhe Yu, a doctoral candidate assisting Wu. “It is essentially wiring a solar cell and a battery… Therefore, it doesn’t provide much benefit either on cost or efficiency.”

Scientists trying to marry a solar panel and battery viewed the two parts as separate issues, and would simply try to attach the two together into a contained system. However, that solution does does not attack the true problem of energy loss during transfer. By fully integrating the two systems, Yu says the team finally cracked the nut.

“A free-standing power source based on this concept is a very promising future,” Yu said. “With this avenue opened up, there are many things that can be explored.”

The batteries work completely off the grid, meaning that no matter where you are, the battery will be able to charge and produce power. The battery is rechargeable, and the team says it has a life comparable to other rechargeable batteries on the market.

The team plans on licensing the technology to companies for commercial production, which will allow for the technology to be brought to scale and private markets to realize the benefits quickly.