A spin-off from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Photreon, gained significant attraction at the Hannover Messe event, where it highlighted its hydrogen production technology and presented a new photoreactor panel.

The project showcased a one-square-meter prototype designed to generate hydrogen using only water and sunlight.

“We avoid the detour through electrically powered electrolysis, producing chemical energy from sunlight and water,” said photreon co-founder Paul Kant.

This system operates independently of the electrical grid and does not require the electrolyzers typically used in green hydrogen production.

Now, look, I’m not going to claim this doesn’t have a whiff of a steaming pile of BS, but if this is really as good as it says, hydrogen would be back on the menu of green options.

  • Rivalarrival@lemmy.todayEnglish
    7·
    3 days ago

    We avoid the detour through electrically powered electrolysis, producing chemical energy from sunlight and water,” said photreon co-founder Paul Kant.

    We specifically need electrolysis.

    The major problem coming over the horizon is seasonal variation in solar generation. While we can effectively utilize grid scale storage to meet overnight demand with solar, that method is not feasible for seasonal variation.

    Winter solar production is (typically) limited to about 9 hours/day of low-angle sunshine. Summer solar production provides about 15 hours a day of high-angle sunshine.

    If we build out enough solar to barely meet our demand in winter, we have more than three times as much production than we need to meet summer demand. That surplus is already crashing electric prices in the middle of summer. We are already seeing occasional periods of negative wholesale electric rates. These surpluses are going to cap solar build out long before it is capable of meeting our needs.

    To keep we desperately need a large scale, power-intensive industry that can operate during daylight hours for 9 months out of the year. Hydrogen electrolysis is one of the most likely industries to fill this role.

    • fullsquare@awful.systems
      2·
      3 days ago

      If one were to make hydrogen producing solar farm specifically, this could have made sense if there were efficiency gains compared to pv + electrolyser. But there ain’t, and from what i understand won’t be