Sun Hydrogen building a green hydrogen future
The Next Great Renewable Fuel
Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical element in the universe. When hydrogen fuel is used to power transportation and industry, the only byproduct left behind is pure water, unlike hydrocarbon fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas that release carbon dioxide and other contaminants into the atmosphere when used.
The Problem
However, naturally occurring elemental hydrogen is extremely rare. As a result, nearly all of the world’s hydrogen is procured through steam methane reforming (SMR), a capital-intensive process that emits carbon dioxide and other harmful pollutants. Hydrogen is green, but currently the most common process for producing it is brown.
Going Green
That’s where green hydrogen comes in. By definition, green hydrogen is generated from a renewable energy source instead of fossil fuels. Wind power, solar power, hydropower and more are among the renewable energy sources utilized today.
While many early green hydrogen technologies show significant potential, they also face a variety of cost and efficiency-related challenges. In the case of conventional electrolyzers, extensive power electronics and costly membranes and catalysts contribute significantly to the total cost of operation. These high costs have been a major setback in the Widespread implementation of electrolyzer technologies: In 2020, green hydrogen accounted for less than 1% of all hydrogen produced.¹ Adoption of green hydrogen will continue to be slow if steep operational costs are not remedied.
“Green hydrogen could supply up to 25% of the world’s energy needs by 2050.”
The SunHydrogen Solution
By optimizing the science of water electrolysis at the nano-level, SunHydrogen, Inc. is developing a low-cost method to produce truly green hydrogen using just sunlight and water. Powered by solar energy, each SunHydrogen panel harnesses the power of billions of microscopic nanoparticles to split water at the molecular level, extracting hydrogen for use as a clean energy source and leaving behind only clean oxygen as a byproduct.
The SunHydrogen solution is unique because it directly uses the electrical charges created by sunlight to generate hydrogen, eliminating the need for the power electronics that traditional electrolyzers rely on altogether. SunHydrogen’s planned scalable system configuration of many individual hydrogen-generating panels creates a high degree of redundancy, security and stability. And while electrolyzers require high-purity water for operation, SunHydrogen’s technology is designed to utilize water of varying purities.
SunHydrogen intends for its technology to be cost-competitive with brown hydrogen and below the cost of clean hydrogen competitors, clearing a path for green hydrogen to gain mass market acceptance as a true replacement for fossil fuels.
¹ Wood Mackenzie, “Hydrogen Landscape 2020”
² Goldman Sachs, “Green Hydrogen: The next transformational driver of the Utilities industry”