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EPFL solar hydrogen system co-generates heat and oxygen

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EPFL researchers have built a pilot-scale solar reactor that produces usable heat and oxygen, in addition to generating hydrogen with unprecedented efficiency for its size. This is the first system-level demonstration of solar hydrogen generation. Holmes-Gentle et al.

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Rice U team creates low-cost, high-efficiency integrated device for solar-driven water splitting; solar leaf

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Rice University researchers have created an efficient, low-cost device that splits water to produce hydrogen fuel. The platform developed by the Brown School of Engineering lab of Rice materials scientist Jun Lou integrates catalytic electrodes and perovskite solar cells that, when triggered by sunlight, produce electricity.

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NREL, Berkeley Lab propose efficiency and stability best-practices for solar water-splitting

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Scientists from the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) are providing researchers with a guide to how best to measure the efficiency of producing hydrogen directly from solar power. PEC water-splitting was first noted in scientific publications in 1972.

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All-in-one solar-powered tower makes carbon-neutral kerosene in the field at pilot-scale

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Researchers in Europe led by a team from ETH Zurich have designed a fuel production system that uses water, CO 2 , and sunlight to produce aviation fuel. We are the first to demonstrate the entire thermochemical process chain from water and CO 2 to kerosene in a fully-integrated solar tower system. Zoller et al.

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Synhelion starts construction of DAWN demo plant to produce solar fuels

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ETH Zurich spin-off Synhelion has started the construction of DAWN—its own industrial plant to produce synthetic fuels using solar heat. The production process—using only solar heat—was first demonstrated in 2019 in a mini-refinery on the roof of ETH Zurich. Earlier post.)

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Photocatalytic optical fibers convert water into hydrogen

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Researchers at the University of Southampton have transformed optical fibers into photocatalytic microreactors that convert water into hydrogen fuel using solar energy. Alongside hydrogen generation from water, the multi-disciplinary research team is investigating photochemical conversion of carbon dioxide into synthetic fuel.

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Cambridge researchers develop standalone device that makes formic acid from sunlight, CO2 and water

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Researchers at the University of Cambridge, with colleagues at the University of Tokyo, have developed a standalone device that converts sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into formic acid, a carbon-neutral fuel, without requiring any additional components or electricity. Qian Wang et al. Nature Energy doi: 10.1038/s41560-020-0678-6.

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