Sparc Technologies (ASX:SPN) has announced its Sparc Hydrogen joint venture has signed a 24-month agreement with SunHydrogen (OTCQB:HYSR) to integrate and test the companies’ solar hydrogen technologies.
The agreement follows preliminary laboratory testing of SunHydrogen’s modules, which achieved solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiencies above 10%. Testing also showed the modules could operate under higher solar fluxes at moderate concentrations, increasing hydrogen production rates.
The collaboration will assess the technical and economic feasibility of combining SunHydrogen’s photoelectrochemical and integrated photovoltaic-electrolysis modules with Sparc Hydrogen’s concentrated solar reactors.
Initial laboratory work will test the modules at increasing solar concentrations. Subject to agreed technical milestones, the program will progress to outdoor testing at Sparc Hydrogen’s SHARP pilot plant in Roseworthy, South Australia.
Sparc Hydrogen CEO Alana Barlow says the agreement establishes a milestone-based pathway towards pilot-scale testing and potential commercialisation.
“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,” Barlow says.
“This agreement sets a clear, milestone-driven path to prove that out to pilot-scale, on terms that open a route to commercialisation.”
Testing results will inform a jointly funded techno-economic assessment examining the levelised cost of hydrogen and potential cost reductions from integrating the technologies.
Under the agreement, Sparc Hydrogen holds exclusive rights during the 24-month term to apply SunHydrogen’s technology in concentrated-light applications above an undisclosed solar concentration threshold.
If the program is completed successfully, Sparc Hydrogen says it will have an 18-month option to negotiate a long-term module supply agreement or manufacturing licence. The company will also hold a right of first offer over competing third-party arrangements during the option period.
Sparc Technologies says the agreement is not expected to have a material near-term financial impact.
Sparc Hydrogen is a joint venture between Sparc Technologies, Fortescue (ASX:FMG), and Adelaide University. It is developing a reactor that uses concentrated sunlight, water, and photocatalytic materials to produce hydrogen without an electrolyser.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Images: Sparc Technologies
