Sparc Hydrogen—a joint venture company between Sparc Technologies, Fortescue, and Adelaide University—has entered into a technology collaboration and intellectual property protection agreement with SunHydrogen.
Sparc Hydrogen has been developing patented photocatalytic water splitting reactor technology since 2022, establishing a first-of-it-kind green hydrogen pilot plant in Roseworthy, South Australia. There, the company is performing operational testing under concentrated solar conditions as part of its journey towards commercialisation.
Related article: Key generation milestone for Sparc Hydrogen Pilot Plant
The agreement follows encouraging results from the preliminary testing of SunHydrogen modules in Sparc Hydrogen’s laboratories demonstrating solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiencies of above 10%.
Preliminary testing has also demonstrated that SunHydrogen’s modules are capable of operating under higher solar fluxes at moderate solar concentrations, supporting higher hydrogen production rates. Double-digit STH efficiency represents a significant performance milestone for direct solar water-splitting technologies and supports the potential for further scale-up and commercial development.
Sparc Hydrogen CEO Alana Barlow commented said, “Sparc Hydrogen’s strategy is to work with the world’s leading developers of photocatalyst and photoelectrochemical materials, and this collaboration with SunHydrogen reflects that approach.
“We’ve seen solar-to-hydrogen efficiencies above 10% in the lab, and evidence that higher solar concentration increases hydrogen yield, the core benefit our technology is built to deliver.
“This agreement sets a clear, milestone-driven path to prove that out to pilot-scale, on terms that open a route to commercialisation.”
SunHydrogen president and CEO Tim Young said, “Seeing our modules tested above 10% solar-to-hydrogen efficiency, and produce more hydrogen as sunlight is concentrated, is exactly the kind of outside validation our shareholders want to see.
It is an honour to work alongside Professor Greg Metha, whose pioneering work in concentrated-light photocatalysis underpins Sparc Hydrogen’s reactor.
Related article: Aussie team solves green hydrogen bubble trouble
This collaboration lets us prove our modules in a system built by specialists in the field, while we stay focused on our core mission of low-cost, decentralised hydrogen from sunlight and water. It gives both companies a clear, milestone-driven path from the lab to pilot scale.”
