SunHydrogen makes clean hydrogen fuel using only sunlight and water — and the company just posted some record-breaking test results, according to Fuel Cell Works.
On a trip to visit with consultants in Japan from the University of Tokyo, the SunHydrogen team put its hydrogen modules to work under laboratory conditions. They previously found a 10% efficiency for the company's 100 square centimeter size modules. This time, the spotlight was on a large-area test of the bigger 1,200 square centimeter modules, FCW explained.
After the tests, the company reported that the larger-sized hydrogen modules still ran an efficiency of 9%, a record for that size. The performance also stayed consistent over a wide range of temperatures, FCW reported.
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Definitely 👍 "We are extremely pleased to have maintained such high efficiency in our first large-area test. To our knowledge, this remains the highest reported efficiency for a hydrogen module of this scale," said SunHydrogen CEO Tim Young, per FCW.
The achievement bodes well for the continued growth of the hydrogen market, which Goldman Sachs predicts will be worth $12 trillion by 2050. The industry has applications in car batteries and data centers, as well as industrial uses for things like fertilizer and oil refining, the outlet explained.
Plus, research breakthroughs like this one help bring down the costs associated with the power source, which means solar-to-hydrogen panels available for your rooftop might be closer than you think.
When in action, hydrogen cells only emit water vapor. However, the fuel source is not always entirely eco-friendly, since certain cells need to burn planet-heating and air-polluting materials just to make the hydrogen. Luckily, that's not the case with SunHydrogen; powered hand in hand with solar energy, it's human health-friendly and green as can be.
Next, the company plans to continue testing its modules under a range of conditions — including real sun with help from the Honda Research and Development team — with the end goal being to become a major supplier in the clean energy market.
"These results give us confidence that with further design optimization … we can push efficiencies to 10% and beyond in future generations of larger modules," said SunHydrogen's chief technology officer, Dr. Syed Mubeen, per FCW.
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