Solar hydrogen panel

This electrochemical cell uses electrolysis to split the water electrolyte, creating hydrogen (H2) at the cathode and oxygen (O2) at the anode.

[3] In 1970, South African electrochemist John Bockris claimed that hydrogen as a fuel source could be supplied by a chemical reaction between water and solar energy.

[4] The world's first solar-powered hydrogen production plant became operational in 1990 in Neunburg vorm Wald, a town in southern Germany.

[5][6] In 2019, chemists and physicists at The University of Tokyo and Tokyo Metropolitan University made improvements in the material construction and efficiency of water-splitting solar panels, showing one square meter of sunlight-exposed area with a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 0.4%; the research claims to be viable for scalable and cheap renewable solar hydrogen production.

[12] However, this method would require powered electronics for electricity transport, such as DC–DC converters and AC–DC inverters, that further reduce the system's efficiency.

[12][14] Further advancements would be needed to reduce the cost of grid electrolysis technologies and increase the efficiency of electricity transport to make the system viable on a larger scale.

[14] Challenges hindering the development and large-scale adoption of this technology mostly relate to high monetary costs for panel production.

[16] Environmental impacts of the process of creating these cells include the production of large amounts of CO2 and SO2, contributing to global warming and ocean acidification.

As solar energy can only be produced during the day, the system undergoes daily startup and shutdown sequences, which hinders the durability and efficiency of the conversion process over time.