In Australia, pv Magazine Australia reported that researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) have proven with a solar-powered ‘beam-down’ solar reactor technology that a full thermochemical hydrogen production cycle, from solar input to hydrogen output, has the potential to achieve a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of higher than 20%, 5% more than many existing systems.
Working at the CSIRO’s Newcastle Energy Centre (NEC), the researchers achieved the result with its demonstration of a system called a beam-down solar reactor using concentrated solar power (CSP) and metal particles to produce green hydrogen.
Unlike traditional CSP, that focus sunlight onto the top of a tower, the CSIRO design directs it down onto a platform, like a magnifying glass but at a larger scale, according to the report.
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