The future of clean energy
Using world-first technology born right here in Australia, a groundbreaking company is making green power accessible to homes and businesses across the globe.
Hydrogen – the world’s simplest and most abundant element – plays a part in just about every vision of a clean-energy future. Once dubbed the “freedom fuel” by former US president George W. Bush, it’s been lauded by the International Energy Agency for its “vast potential”, while Australia’s former chief scientist, Alan Finkel, described it as our “next multibillion-dollar export opportunity’’. And while it was the energy source that fuelled NASA’s spaceship program for decades, hydrogen has had limited applications on the ground due to the difficulties of transporting it in gas or liquid form. Enter LAVO, an Australian startup that has solved this dilemma through world-first technology that stores hydrogen in solid form at room temperature, making it a safe, green source of power for homes, businesses and communities. Described as a solar sponge, the LAVO System uses power from rooftop panels to produce hydrogen from water by electrolysis. The hydrogen is then stored in a metal hydride vault – about the size of a home refrigerator – and converted back into electricity on demand via a fuel cell. Alan Yu, the CEO of LAVO, launched the world’s first domestic hydrogen battery into the market last October, with the first 200 LAVO units currently planned to be installed by June. The unit, says Yu, is perfectly positioned to take advantage of Australia’s world-leading take-up rates of home solar panels and provides a compelling alternative to lithium battery systems, such as the Tesla Powerwall 2, given LAVO’s far greater storage capacity and the recyclability of its core components. We spoke to Yu about why LAVO is game-changing technology and how it’s set to revolutionise green-energy consumption in Australia and around the world.
How does LAVO fit into a no-carbon, zero-emissions future?
LAVO is the world’s first integrated hydrogen battery or storage system that integrates rooftop solar and provides sustainable, reliable and renewable energy for households and businesses. It’s important to the future of hydrogen energy because it’s easy to transport and safe to store. Unlike other types of hydrogen storage solutions, such as liquefied or highpressure storage, LAVO stores the hydrogen in a solid form at room temperature in a metal hydride so it’s much more stable. In that way, it’s very similar to a barbecue gas cylinder or hot-water system.
Australians are eagerly adopting rooftop solar. How does LAVO fit into that equation?
About 2.5 million residences in Australia have solar panels and another half a million businesses. Last year saw one of the largest uptakes in solar ever. The LAVO storage capacity, currently at 40 kilowatt hours, means families can use green energy at peak times, such as early in the morning or in the evening. It means there is ample available energy even when the sun isn’t shining.
And the technology was developed here in Australia?
The LAVO journey commenced back in 2011 in a laboratory at the University of NSW and was patented in 2019. Since then we’ve assembled a first-class team of industrial designers, engineers and manufacturing partners to fine-tune the system. It has been
incredibly exciting to see the translation from cutting-edge research and innovation in the lab to a product that will have a profound social impact.
How has LAVO’s journey to market been different than anticipated?
We were looking at large-scale commercial applications. But we made a small prototype to prove the technology worked and realised that we had a market in residential housing right there. So we pivoted very quickly to cater to the millions of homes that already have solar panels.
How does LAVO compare on price?
Our price is $34,750, which is about three times the cost of a Tesla Powerwall. But, then, our product has three times the energy storage capacity so there are obvious benefits to that.
How do you see LAVO having an impact in the wider community?
There are endless possibilities to how this technology can be used without having to rely on a third party to provide you with power. We can integrate multiple LAVO units to provide a virtual power plant for rural, regional and remote communities. It can be used by telcos in remote areas to power mobile towers. There’s a lot of interest from the eco-tourism sector and we’re working with data centres, which are hugely energyhungry. LAVO provides a sense of control and energy security in places where energy distribution is unreliable or costly.