High-efficiency solar heat storage enabled by adaptive radiation management

Abstract

Solar heat storage technology is urgently needed to harness intermittent solar energy to directly drive widespread heat-related applications. However, achieving high-efficiency solar heat storage remains elusive due to the loss of heat to the surroundings, especially through radiative processes. Here, we present a bioinspired light-adaptive shutter (LAS) with a multi-layer architecture that autonomously switches between open and closed states according to solar illumination fluctuations because of a photothermal-expansion mismatch effect. As a result, in a LAS-integrated solar heat storage system, the LAS governs the incident and dissipated radiation, suppresses the radiative heat dissipation by 20 times, and achieves high-efficiency solar heat storage with a near-zero net radiative heat dissipation. Furthermore, a LAS is demonstrated to enhance the temperature by >20°C in a 3-day field test. Given excellent responsiveness, scalable manufacturing, and feasibility under wide operating conditions, the LAS provides a promising radiation management strategy for high-efficiency solar heat storage. Light-adaptive shutter enable autonomous radiation management with solar fluctuations LASs suppress radiative heat dissipation by 20 times for efficient solar heat storage LASs are promising for applications, including smart windows, autonomous robots, etc. The efficiency of solar heat storage is limited by radiative heat dissipation. Liu et al. present a light-adaptive shutter (LAS) that autonomously governs incident solar radiation and dissipated heat radiation according to solar illumination fluctuations, which may provide a promising radiation management strategy.