HyperSolar has set record times in producing hydrogen using a submersible artificial photosynthesis device in water. The device uses sunlight only, without any outside power source, in order to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “HyperSolar, Inc., the developer of a breakthrough technology to produce renewable hydrogen using sunlight and water, announced today that its patent pending polymer coating, when applied to a bromine electrode in a wireless solar powered particle, resulted in 170 continuous hours of hydrogen production, one of the longest duration applications of wireless hydrogen production on record.
“The test conducted by members of the company’s research team at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) confirms the possibility of commercializing a process for the direct conversion of sunlight into valuable chemicals and fuels. Solar to chemical conversion (artificial photosynthesis) has the advantage in that the energy storage challenges associated with photovoltaics are eliminated. The company’s goal is to efficiently convert solar energy into hydrogen.”
Now, I’ve talked about artificial photosynthesis many times in the past. When perfected, this technology will be a low-cost, efficient method of producing high volumes of hydrogen. For the naysayers who state that the only way to produce hydrogen is by using fossil fuels, artificial photosynthesis will have a quieting effect on that crowd.
I am very impressed with this result, 170 hours of hydrogen production. I’m wondering how since there are at most 12 hours of daylight, except in the artic, how 170 hours was measured? Is that 170 hours through day and night, or 170 hours of daylight over say 2 weeks? Is the coating on a bromine electrode? Well, I’m wondering what this costs and what makes the device stop working?