Physicists first created a facility that generates electricity from the cosmic cold.

Researchers have developed an infrared semiconductor device that faces the sky and

produces electricity due to the difference between the temperature of the Earth and outer space.

The device works according to the principle of the reverse solar battery - it does not collect sunlight, but picks up infrared radiation returning to space.

While the installation capacity is extremely low - insteadof the planned 4 watts per square meter, it produces only 64 nW. However, the device was the first installation to generate electricity from the temperature difference on Earth and in space, and further development will improve its efficiency, the study says.

Previously a group of scientists from Stanford Universityproposed an alternative method of storing excess energy, which remains from other methods of energy extraction. With methane, scientists will be able to store energy better than it does in lithium-ion batteries, and you can use it in calm or cloudy weather.