What is solar hydrogen?
Solar hydrogen is an energetic and environmentally neutral cycle that uses solar power to create hydrogen. In the cycle, sunlight provides the electric current for electrolysis to transform water into hydrogen and oxygen; hydrogen is then used in a fuel cell or combustion process to produce energy with its only byproducts being heat and water.
Hydrogen, the lightest and most common element, is found in all organic matter and water. It is a powerful energy carrier which can be used for fuel. To obtain hydrogen, energy must be used to separate it from other elements (e.g., oxygen and carbon) with which it’s naturally bonded. Using energy from the sun converted to renewable electricity, the hydrogen and oxygen molecules of water can be separated with an electric current in a pollution-free process called electrolysis, yielding pure solar hydrogen. Solar hydrogen is a cradle-to-grave, zero emission fuel which can be stored, transported via pipeline, and converted back to electricity. Are there other ways to produce hydrogen? Yes. Hydrogen can also be produced by separating the hydrogen and carbon molecules of fossil fuels, like natural gas and coal. However, using fossil fuels to obtain hydrogen is both polluting (the process releases the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide) and limited, since fossil fuels are a fi
