Photo‐assisted Rechargeable Metal Batteries for Energy Conversion and Storage

Abstract

Solar cells hold a function of photovoltaic conversion, while rechargeable metal batteries have an advantage of high energy storage. The conventional charge mode of batteries is made based on complete utilization of electric energy. The combination of solar cells and rechargeable metal batteries brings a new opportunity for the development of photo‐assisted rechargeable batteries, in which the solar energy can be utilized to partially achieve photo‐charging with or without external electrical bias. This review highlights the working mechanism and structure design of photo‐assisted rechargeable metal batteries according to the characteristics of rechargeable metal batteries and advantage of the photovoltaic technology. In particular, the recent advances are introduced for photo‐assisted rechargeable batteries based on light‐weight metal anodes, including metal lithium, metal sodium, and metal zinc. The working features of the integrated devices are also discussed for energy saving under photo‐assisted charging mode. Finally, a future outlook is provided for further improving the performance of photo‐assisted rechargeable metal batteries.