Solar Love
  • Rooftop Solar
    • Energy Storage
  • Solar Panels
  • Policy
  • Research
    • Science
    • Market Research
    • Solar Perceptions & Polls

Solar Love

  • Rooftop Solar
    • Energy Storage
  • Solar Panels
  • Policy
  • Research
    • Science
    • Market Research
    • Solar Perceptions & Polls
Energy StorageScienceSolar Research

Breakthrough In Solar-Powered Hydrogen Generation

by Zach June 18, 2013
written by Zach June 18, 2013
Breakthrough In Solar-Powered Hydrogen Generation

This is a guest post from Mathias Aarre Maehlum, who writes more about solar panels at Energy Informative. Enjoy!

By Mathias Aarre Maehlum

A team of researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology has made significant improvements to the process of generating hydrogen from solar energy and water.

They have created a PEC-cell (photoelectrochemical) that works in much the same way as a conventional photovoltaic cell, but rather then generating electricity it produces hydrogen gas.

For full details on how the technology works, head on over to NIST. Credit: Esposito, Levin/NIST

For full details on how the technology works, head on over to NIST. Credit: Esposito, Levin/NIST

 

A semiconducting photoelectrode converts photons (sunlight) into electrons. The electrons are then used to split water molecules (H2O) into two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The researchers at NIST have innovated the PEC-cell by using a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS), which improves on the stability issues that previous PEC prototypes have been struggling with. The research team hopes their new design will eventually lead to cost-effective hydrogen.

Hydrogen gas has many significant benefits as a fuel carrier. Maybe the most important one being that the process of releasing the power in each hydrogen atom does not involve any pollution (water and heat are the only byproducts). Hydrogen can also be used to help balancing out our increasingly fluctuating energy system (as more and more renewable energy is added to the electrical grid):

“A major challenge with solar energy is dealing with solar intermittency. We demand energy constantly, but the sun’s not always going to be shining, so there’s an important need to convert solar energy into a form we can use when the sun’s not out. For large-scale energy storage or transportation, hydrogen has a lot of benefits.” says NIST chemical engineer Daniel Esposito.

It is also worth mentioning that hydrogen has the highest energy content compared to any other fuel carrier that we use today.

However, producing hydrogen is incredibly expensive. Researchers have for many years been trying to find a cost-effective method or a process. Maybe the researchers at NIST are onto something with their solar-powered hydrogen process?

0 comment
0
FacebookTwitterPinterest
Zach

is the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular cleantech-focused website in the world, and Planetsave, a world-leading green and science news site. He has been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and he has been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, and wind energy since 2009. Aside from his work on CleanTechnica and Planetsave, he's the founder and director of Solar Love, EV Obsession, and Bikocity. To connect with Zach on some of your favorite social networks, go to ZacharyShahan.com and click on the relevant buttons.

previous post
Yingli Developing 3 GW Of Solar Power Plants For China
next post
9 GW (!) Of Solar Power Project Applications Submitted Under Turkey’s FiT Program

You may also like

Solar+Storage Project Awarded In India’s Andaman Islands

April 23, 2018

Global Solar Installations To Exceed 104 Gigawatts In...

April 16, 2018

Report: US Energy Storage Market To Triple In...

March 10, 2018

Top New York Solar Installers

November 10, 2017

North Carolina Solar Energy (In Depth)

September 20, 2017

How Do Solar Panels & Solar Energy Work?

August 22, 2017

Nissan & Eaton Bring Residential Storage Batteries To...

May 8, 2017

NREL Releases Landmark Residential Solar + Energy Storage...

March 30, 2017

Solar + Storage Already Cheaper Than Grid In...

March 28, 2017

Sonnen Plans Atlanta Headquarters For US Residential Battery...

March 27, 2017

Follow Me

Facebook

Recent Posts

  • Meet PVCase: A 3D Solar Design Software That Every PV Designer Should Consider

    June 12, 2019
  • Mitsui To Partner With Indian Company For Distributed Solar Projects

    June 10, 2019
  • India’s NTPC Offers Solar Project Management Services To ISA Members

    June 9, 2019
  • Equinor & Scatec Solar Complete 162 Megawatt Brazilian Solar Plant

    November 29, 2018
  • Gamesa Awarded 400 Megawatt Solar Project In Egypt

    November 29, 2018
  • Facebook

@2019 - All Right Reserved solarlove.org


Back To Top