Sun Catalytix secures money for low-cost solar fuel

Sun Catalytix, a company that's trying to develop a revolutionary clean-energy system, has finished a round of seed funding and secured a technology license from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based company was formed about one year ago to commercialize research from MIT professor Daniel Nocera in which he attempts to mimic the process of photosynthesis.

Polaris Ventures finalized a $3 million seed round of funding for Sun Catalytix and expects to raise a series A round next year, said Polaris' Bob Metcalfe, who is also on the board.

Sun Catalytix is pursuing a breakthrough system that would use cheap solar panels to produce hydrogen, which would be stored and then used to produce electricity in a fuel cell.

(Credit: MIT)

The core of the company's technology, which Nocera has sought to patent, is a low-cost catalyst for an electrolyzer, a device that splits water to make hydrogen. That hydrogen can be used with a fuel cell to make electricity. Or the hydrogen could be combined with other materials to store energy in a liquid fuel, such as methanol or ammonia, Metcalfe said.

Nocera envisions that homes would be equipped with solar panels to produce hydrogen from water during the day. At night, the stored hydrogen could power a home without releasing carbon emissions.

The key difference with the Sun Catalytix electrolyzer is that it is being designed to be made with cheap materials and work with all sorts of water, said Metcalfe.

"Splitting water to make hydrogen is as old as the hills. The breakthrough here is that it's dirt cheap. They operate in dirty water like water from the Charles River and they've used salt water from the Boston Harbor," he said.

The catalyst that splits the water molecules uses cobalt phosphate, which is cheap and abundant compared to expensive metals such as platinum, Metcalfe added. So far, the five-person company has built a number of prototypes made from PVC plastic.

A fully functioning system would take a number of years to develop and depend on other components being cheaper, including solar panels and hydrogen storage, Nocera has said.

But Metcalfe said that Polaris believes the company can commercialize the technology "in the short attention span of a venture capitalist." Typically, venture capitalists expect to generate a big return in five to seven years.

[Hassesan]

Stuart Energi, Canada, made this "patent" several years ago in Sweden at Gotland. <br />They made a fuel station for EU test buses runing on H2 fuelcells and the O was delivered to the hospitel.

[Hassesan]

Stuart Energi, Canada, made this patent several years ago in Sweden at Gotland. <br />They made a fuel station for EU test buses runing on H2 fuelcells and the O was delivered to the hospitel. <br />Althoug it is a good solution. <br />Regards Hassesan

[kgsbca]

I still don't get what this has to do with solar energy. It sounds like their water-to-hydrogen process will work with any form of electricity. Obviously solar will work, but the fact that they play it up so much makes me suspicious about their technology.

[mlamonica]

You're right - the elecrolyzer is being designed to work with any source of electricity, so the core technology is really about energy storage. The goal, though, is to use the storage as part of a distributed clean energy system.

[enovikoff]

There's nothing to be suspicious about. The problem with solar is that it only works when the sun shines. If you add hydrogen production, storage, power generation, it allows you to use your solar array to power your house at night. This is easier on the electric grid and the environment, and could pay back well for people who use a lot of power at night.

[galeso]

But solar electricity is much less efficient and more costly that solar thermal.<br /><br />And it will add to global warming, but not to CO2.

[Remo_Williams]

Patent? They have a kit at Radio Shack that takes tap water and turns it into hydrogen. Are these people joking..? Okay, grant the patent *after* they build something commercially viable.

[NocturnalCT]

Hmm, the energy it takes to split water is pretty much determined by laws of physics/chemistry. What you want is high efficiency and if this catalist can provide it that may be a step in the right direction. Then you need high efficiency when converting that chemical energy back into electricity with the fuel cell.<br /><br />The other obstacle is storage of hydrogen and oxygen. Neither is easily liquifiable so they'll need to be compressed. That means you need pressure vessels and pumps, two of each at least as the gasses need to be stored separately. Hydrogen is notoriously difficult to store so you'll have leakage during the day. And while this is is stored you are essentially putting a bomb in the house that this is installed at. It doesn't get much more energetic than hydrogen and oxygen together after all. There are ways around that such as putting the tanks outside or underground but still.<br /><br />I have to say this looks like a solution looking for a problem rather than the other way around. The amount of equipment required to safely pressurize and store hydrogen and oxygen sounds expensive and since it's at least partially mechanical (pumps, valves) it'll require maintenance as well. I don't see how this could be viable for an average household.

[fokkwp]

Good grief, let's have a matching govt grant for these guys (for staff and materials, not for exec bonuses until profitable). Time to try to get ahead of the Chinese and everyone else who is really doing solar. Peanuts, for the possiblity of a real move forward, for someone who is already attracting venture capital.

[cleanthinking]

Sounds like a great system what Sun Catalytix wants to build!

[Gdl_kinG]

testing....<br />comments<br /><br />arturo

[vikingbobs]

The concept behind this is good. The problem is the solar cells themselves. In a good sunny environment, solar cells operate about four hours a day. Thermal devices, such as hot water heater is using solar energy or Stirling engines are considerably more efficient. The solar arrays have to put out six times the power necessary to operate the house for a 24-hour period to be free from the grid. Most of the homes in the US do not have the luxury of this sunshine. California Edison is experimenting with the use of Stirling engines in the Mohave Desert. Their output is five to eight times that of solar panels. They still only operate four hours a day. Instead of electricity, they should produce hydrogen and put it into a hydrogen distribution system. It will be the future. What it costs. It costs. The fossil fuels will be gone. That leaves atomic power for stationary use and hydrogen for mobile use. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Hydrogen-H2/