Dual-purpose engineered balsa wood solar harvester generates electricity even after the sun goes down

https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-wood-solar-power-sun.html

"strip wood of lignin to increase porosity/ prevent light reflection, coat internal channels with: black phosphorene for light absorption/ conductivity)/ silver nanoparticles to amplify solar interaction... fill with stearic acid/ hydrocarbon chains storing sunlight as heat during day... 91.2% conversion efficiency into heat, nearly 4X more efficient than raw wood... heat after dark convert heat into electricity... 0.65 V/ cycle, comparable to traditional solar cells... consistent performance over 100 cycles, fires self-extinguished"