The idea of a home that can produce its own hydrogen has been tossed around the Intertubes for a while now. It might be safe to assume that solar panels are somehow involved, but researchers in Belgium are planning a different path. Their panels generate hydrogen gas instead of electricity.
It’s called a Hydrogen Panel
CleanTechnica first found the concept of the hydrogen house in 2008, when researchers in the UK launched a project aimed at deploying hydrogen fuel cells for home use.
At the same time Scientific American noted New Jersey innovator Mike Strizki, who has already taken the next step. Strizki equipped an existing house with ground-mounted solar panels and an electrolysis system, which produces hydrogen from plain tap water. Strizki’s nonprofit organization, Hydrogen House, is an educational center (hit them up for a tour in a few days).
In 2020, California utility SoCal Gas upped the ante when it announced plans to demonstrate the hydrogen home concept in a 2,000 sq. ft. factory under construction. ft. LEED platinum house with solar panels, a battery, an electrolyzer for green H2, and a fuel cell.
Researchers in Belgium have also developed a system that deploys solar energy, and their panels are similar to solar panels, but they are different. The R&D started as a student project at the historic university KU Leuven in Belgium and developed under the umbrella of the Solhyd spinoff, led by professor Johan Martens of KU Leuven. He discussed the difference in an interview in 2019.
“A solar panel converts solar energy into electricity, while our panel converts moisture from the air into hydrogen gas,” explained Martens. “Sunlight is part of the photo, of course, and our panel looks like a solar panel, but we prefer to call it a hydrogen panel.”
How Does It Work?
Martens didn’t give much away during the interview, as the team’s patent applications are still working their way through the pipeline. However, it certainly seems like a photoelectrochemical reaction is at play. If you have any thoughts on that, drop us a note in the comment thread.
Photoelectrochemical cells do not produce electricity like photovoltaic cells. They act like an artificial leaf, producing hydrogen through a direct chemical reaction with water, caused by sunlight.
KU Leuven’s contribution to the field is an all-in-one method that deploys water vapor from ambient air. That eliminates the need to engineer a water supply system, though Martens says that still leaves plenty of room for other challenges.
“The temperature of a solar panel can easily reach up to 50 or even 70 degrees Celsius, which doesn’t help when you’re working with water vapor,” he said. “Also, how do you make a system that works in torrential rain and in situations where the humidity is very low? The biggest challenge, in other words, is the water management aspect.
The Sohlyd team didn’t expect their rooftop hydrogen panels to provide enough energy to power an entire house for an entire year, but in a 2019 interview, research co-leader Tom Bosserez stated that 20 panels could provide enough hydrogen. to power the heat pump for a properly insulated house throughout the typical Belgian winter. He also noted that the addition of conventional solar panels and a thermal solar collector can enable a house to take care of its entire energy needs throughout the year.
Here Comes the Hydrogen House
The Solhyd project is focusing on the commercialization side, and you can get some more hints about the technology on the Solhyd website.
“The hydrogen panel is able to extract moisture from the air and use energy from the sun to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, through the use of new materials,” explains Solhyd. “The device contains low cost, many materials and the use of precious metals is excluded.”
That thing about low cost, many materials suggest that organic materials are in play. That may be a surprise, but researchers have begun to overcome obstacles that prevent the use of organic semiconductors in photoelectrochemical water-splitting. An example is a study published in a journal NATURE last year. Apparently the Solhyd project is working on the same track.
As of this writing, the Solhyd team has only built 10 prototype hydrogen panels, but they finally have enough financing to make big strides in short order. Last September Solhyd moved to a new room near the city of Leuven. The initial plan is to build “a few dozen” hydrogen panels for use in pilot-scale projects. The next step will improve things significantly.
“These facilities can accommodate the production of hundreds and even thousands of hydrogen panels. This has been made possible by funding from the Flemish government, to support the development and installation of a pilot production line ,” said Solhyd.
And Now, The Agrivoltaic Angle
The Solhyd team is already looking ahead to other applications, and agrivoltaics made the short list.
CleanTechnica has spilled a lot of ink on the topic of agrivoltaics, where crops are grown under and around solar panels that are raised several feet higher off the ground than a typical ground-mounted one. Initial efforts focused on grasslands and pollinator habitats. Recently, researchers and farmers have demonstrated the technique in food crops and wine grapes.
Solyhyd points out that its hydrogen panels can be used in a similar way.
“One can use solar photovoltaics, but hydrogen panels are equally suitable. Using only one percent of the Belgian agricultural land for agrivoltaics, it is enough to replace 9% of the industrial gas that used in green hydrogen,” they said.
The agivoltaic angle will help accelerate Solhyd into commercial production. Besides energy applications, farmers can use the hydrogen from the panels to make their own green ammonia fertilizer.
The Solhyd group will apply their panels to the newly launched Transfarm sustainability project at KU Leuven, which aims to transform the emerging circular bioeconomy.
“The new research center supports researchers to scale up bioeconomy and bioengineering innovations from lab expertise to pilot scale to bring these new methods to the market and introduce them to society more quickly, ” explained Transfarm.
Transfarm is the latest iteration of a 1920s-era agricultural research center. In its new form, the center promotes 6000 square meters of solar panels, heat pumps, and emission controls for livestock, all with the goal of demonstrating fossil-free farming methods.
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Image: House with H2 roof panels courtesy of Solhyd.
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