Startup Photreon aims to produce hydrogen with sunlight

Green hydrogen is considered an important component of the energy transition, a storage medium for wind and solar power, a raw material, or a fuel. Previous concepts assume that the element is produced using green electricity via electrolysis. The startup Photreon aims to achieve this using only sunlight.

“We are skipping the detour via electricity-dependent electrolysis and producing chemical energy from sun and water,” says Paul Kant, one of the founders. The spin-off from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) intends to use photocatalysis. In this process, light triggers a chemical reaction.

The solar modules developed by Photreon consist of special light-active materials. These absorb sunlight and put electrons into an excited state. These then decompose water into its components, hydrogen, and oxygen. The team has built a prototype panel with an area of one square meter and demonstrated the functionality of its development. The design of the modules is “designed for series production using common mass production processes.”

No information on efficiency

What the photoreactor panels are made of, Photreon does not disclose – the technology is patented. The startup also does not provide further technical details such as efficiency, the amount of hydrogen produced per hour, or the cost of the hydrogen produced in this way.

“Photovoltaics and electrolyzer are replaced in one process step by the photoreactor panel,” explains Photreon co-founder Maren Cordts. “This significantly reduces the system costs and complexity in the production of green hydrogen.”

Photreon sees the use of photoreactor modules in areas “where neither power grids nor a connection to a hydrogen network are available, our technology opens up new possibilities for local generation,” says Cordts. Potential customers could include companies in the chemical, food, or metal processing industries, who could cover their hydrogen needs themselves with such a system.

In addition, the panels could be installed in solar parks in regions with high solar radiation.

(wpl)