New Solar Panel Produces Both Hydrogen and Electricity Efficiently

Posted by Christian Crisostomo on Monday, September 10, 2012 · 

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 Some rights reserved by Lance Cheung via Flickr.

Producing hydrogen using solar power is technically easy. All you need to do is to hook an electrolyzer to a solar energy system, have the system provide power, and voila! Green hydrogen production in an instant. But this method is hardly ever efficient, and if you’re not going to carry that hydrogen to power something somewhere else, then you’d be better off just using solar energy directly.

Would you believe if a certain solar power innovation actually has the ability efficiently produce hydrogen, without compromising the overall efficiency of the system? A new solar technology that incorporates the use of nanocrystals can certainly do this, allowing a solar panel built with the nanomaterial to produce electricity and hydrogen at the same time.
The research for this new material was first presented by the researchers at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. In the report that was made at the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), it was explained that the material uses two separate kinds of nanocrystals to produce the double effect of producing hydrogen and electricity.
The first nanocrystal is rod-shaped in structure, and produces hydrogen gas from a single charge using a reaction known as photocatalysis (an accelerated light-induced chemical reaction). The second nanocrystal works very much like a photoelectric material, catching sunlight and converting it into electricity. Though it may seem like the two materials work separately, the reactions are actually done at the same time as soon as light hits the material. The exact elements and compounds that make up the nanocrystals are zinc selenide, cadmium sulfide, and platinum (which act as a catalyst).
The fact that it was actually designed to produce hydrogen and electricity is already quite astonishing. However it might be more amazing to know that the actual priority of the research was to create more durable solar panels. Indeed, because the two nanocrystals are more durable than their standard counterparts, we can conclude that any solar panel that will be made out if it will be stronger. Their durability is specifically geared towards heat and radiation, something that a regular solar panel is exposed to everyday.
If that is not enough, the nanocrystals also have the ability to “regenerate” fairly well, only requiring cheap organic solvents to repair any damage that they incur from prolonged exposure. This is in contrast to the tiny amount of irreversible damage that happens to regular solar panels every few decades or so.
One thing that was not reported in this research was the rated efficiency of the panels. There might not be any problems if it has about the same efficiency rate as a regular panel. But in case the actual efficiency value was lower, then it might have to use its long service lifetime as a trump card to pull its economic value up. The cost of producing these nanocrystals would also come into the equation.
Nevertheless, the innovation is still quite interesting. It might even drive the revival of the hydrogen economy concept! Well maybe not, but its development could at least put fuel cell technology one step back into the frontlines of green energy research.