Photocatalytic Water Splitting Technology
What is Photocatalytic Water Splitting (PWS)
Photocatalytic water splitting is an alternative method of producing renewable green hydrogen.
It is often referred to as direct solar to hydrogen technology as it avoids the need to convert solar energy into electricity to split water via electrolysis.
In photocatalysis, the suns energy incident on a highly specialised photocatalyst forms reactive sites which triggers the dissociation of water into hydrogen and oxygen.
Photocatalytic water splitting has been known about in scientific circles for more than 50 years.
Sparc Hydrogen is pioneering reactor technology with the aim of commercialising PWS for the production of green hydrogen at large scale.
Sparc Hydrogen's unique approach
Sparc Hydrogen’s patent pending solar reactor is demonstrated to improve the efficiency of PWS to obtain hydrogen from water. Given lower infrastructure requirements and energy use the ‘Sparc Green Hydrogen’ process has the potential to deliver a cost advantage over electrolysis along with being more flexible and scalable.
What makes our technology different?
Sparc Hydrogen’s patent pending solar reactor is one of the only known technologies globally combining concentrated solar with photocatalytic water splitting.
Advantages include:
reduced photocatalyst use
modular design
higher solar-to-hydrogen efficiencies
excess heat can be captured and used
Development pathway
Sparc Hydrogen JV established in Q1 2022
Preliminary TEA confirms commercial potential in Q4 2022
Development of solar reactor prototype for on-sun testing in 2023
Pilot plant construction and operation in 2025
Pilot Plant Construction Commencement
We have commenced construction of our first-of-its-kind green hydrogen pilot plant in South Australia.
This pilot plant will use photocatalysis to produce green hydrogen directly from water using solar energy – without electrolysers.
This milestone marks a major step forward for our joint venture between Sparc Technologies, Fortescue Limited, and the University of Adelaide, as we develop next-generation green hydrogen production together.
Pilot Plant Rendering
Solatom Linear Fresnel Receivers Undergoing Final Checks for Roseworthy Pilot Plant
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