Solar/Hydrogen Combination
At the University of New South Wales, a team is working on solar cells that generate hydrogen.
This is pretty cool. These new solar cells will take water as input, and photolyze hydrogen and oxygen as output. The hydrogen will then presumably be used in fuel cells to generate electricity. Unlike conventional solar electricity, the hydrogen can be banked for later use (yes, you can do that with batteries, but you can’t put the battery into your electric car today) or use elsewhere (like overseas).
Australia in the press release imagines itself as the “OPEC of the hydrogen economy”. I think the US had better get on the stick on this issue – we’ll be left behind again. All you need to make this work is sun and cleanable water. Shoot – the Aussies are talking about putting these on HOUSES to collect hydrogen. With the American Southwest’s big deserts, imagine how much power we could generate!
(Hat Tip: Dean’s World)
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