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Title: New Panasonic Solar Panels Make Hydrogen For Your Car and House
Source:
asahi.com
URL Source: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/sci_tech/technology/AJ201508020014
Published: Aug 2, 2015
Author: Tetsushi Yamamura
Post Date: 2015-08-04 08:58:46 by Operation 40
Keywords: Hydrogen, Energy, Solar
Views: 1352
Comments: 6
Panasonic moves closer to home energy self-sufficiency with fuel cells Panasonic Corp. said it has developed a catalyst that uses sunlight efficiently to extract hydrogen from water, a technology that could lead to energy self-sufficiency in homes powered by fuel cells. The company said it tested photocatalysts consisting of niobium nitride that can absorb 57 percent of sunlight, a rate far more efficient than the titanium oxide photocatalysts used today that absorb only ultraviolet rays, which constitute 4 percent of sunlight. Using this catalyst, Panasonic plans to develop products, such as panels similar to solar cells, for installation on rooftops. These products in turn will create the hydrogen that fuel cells use to generate electricity...snip more- http://ajw.asahi.com/article/sci_tech/technology/AJ201508020014 OSAKA -- Panasonic is developing a household fuel cell system using hydrogen that can power homes and vehicles. It is doing so in part to help the government create a "hydrogen society." ..."We are committed to developing technology that can play a part in the household hydrogen-based infrastructure," Yoshiyuki Miyabe, Panasonic's senior managing director in charge of technology, said July 3 in Tokyo. Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen. The conventional electrolysis method for splitting water costs money as it uses electricity. Hydrogen does not produce carbon dioxide when it is burned, making it a clean source of energy. But when hydrogen is produced from water by using electricity, it is not as clean. To lower costs and become greener, Panasonic centers on photocatalytic water splitting. Sunlight helps to trigger a photocatalytic reaction and split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The company plans to install panels on house rooftops for power generation through the process. Photocatalytic water splitting has so far worked only under ultraviolet sunlight. Only a slight amount of UV light is contained in the sun's rays...snip more- http://asia.nikkei.com/Tech-Science/Tech/The-future-home-is-where-the-hydrogen-power-generator-is
Asahi Shimbun August 02, 2015 
The future home is where the hydrogen power generator is
Nikkei Asian Review July 11, 2015 
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#1. To: Operation 40 (#0)
Well yeah... hydrogen is really just a way to store energy, so I can understand why Japan wouldn't want to burn coal or oil or natural gas to generate hydrogen... But I still don't understand the difference between "photocatalytic" water splitting and simply using photovoltaic cells to power standard electrolysis. Is there a good diagram somewhere that shows how this thing actually works? What do they do about mineral build-up from hard water? Or does it require using distilled water? Hey, I'm just an engineer, not a research scientist... someone needs to explain this to me like I'm a five-year-old.
You could use distilled water and just run a closed system. After all, you'll get back the water you use when you burn the hydrogen. "Photocatalytic" is just a name for electrolysis that doesn't convert to standard AC power before converting to hydrogen. There's a lot of obvious "direct" applications like this that they finally got around to implementing in the last few years. Naturally, converting to AC power (and back), is inefficient. More stating of the obvious. I think this is a mandatory paragraph in every single press release that Op40 showers this forum with. And they're all the same article with either the guy from NJ or some Japanese lab women pictured. It's low-grade Asian industrial porn.
Well yeah.... standard electrolysis uses DC (not AC) to separate water into its components: hydrogen is released at the cathode (negative electrode) and oxygen at the anode (positive electrode). And it doesn't make sense to use an inverter to produce AC when solar cells produce DC to begin with... So I guess I'm getting confused by the term "catalytic." Are they working on some kind of material to actually make the solar cell more efficient? Or is this material making the anode and/or cathode more efficient? This confuses me because the "photo" part makes more sense in the solar cell, while the "catalyst" part makes more sense for the anode/cathode.... But I can't picture the solar cell and the anode/cathode as being the same component... so I'm sitting here scratching my head wondering WTF?
It's just that the solar systems have been produced to convert to AC power only, so you could force your neighbors to pay for your electricity to be fed into the local grid. The great advance here is that they are finally starting to make direct use of energy as DC current. It's actually a very minor thing technologically. The same applies with the new Tesla in-home batteries. You're much better off to directly charge the cells with DC, rather than convert to 110V AC power, then back to DC to charge the batteries.
Listen up clown- if anyone would know anything about "showering this forum" it's you. The only thing you add here is unrestrained hubris. You're just frustrated that you are wrong about hydrogen and you made an arse of yourself about it. "Pride goeth before a fall"
How desperate are you, posting this corporatist drivel that isn't even considered news? Almost any day of the year, there are better energy stories than you post here at LF.
The conventional electrolysis method for splitting water costs money as it uses electricity.
#2. To: Willie Green (#1)
But I still don't understand the difference between "photocatalytic" water splitting and simply using photovoltaic cells to power standard electrolysis. Is there a good diagram somewhere that shows how this thing actually works? What do they do about mineral build-up from hard water? Or does it require using distilled water?
Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen. The conventional electrolysis method for splitting water costs money as it uses electricity. Hydrogen does not produce carbon dioxide when it is burned, making it a clean source of energy. But when hydrogen is produced from water by using electricity, it is not as clean.
#3. To: TooConservative (#2)
"Photocatalytic" is just a name for electrolysis that doesn't convert to standard AC power before converting to hydrogen.
#4. To: Willie Green (#3)
Well yeah.... standard electrolysis uses DC (not AC) to separate water into its components: hydrogen is released at the cathode (negative electrode) and oxygen at the anode (positive electrode). And it doesn't make sense to use an inverter to produce AC when solar cells produce DC to begin with...
#5. To: TooConservative (#2)
every single press release that Op40 showers this forum with
#6. To: Operation 40 (#5)
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