Hydrogen Car Powered By Solar Panels

A US high school has remarkably developed and built a truck which runs on hydrogen created by electrolysis using energy from solar panels.

However, those optimistic about the prospects of such ‘green’ vehicles should take note that the system only produces enough hydrogen to power the truck for 1.5 miles per day, and this requires a large array of solar panels.

Its important to remember that hydrogen is not an energy source but an energy store, similar to a battery. Hydrogen does not occur naturally in its unbonded state, and requires energy to be obtained by electrolysis from H20 water molecules. Some energy is wasted (becomes unusable, for example as heat) in all reactions, and hence the usable energy stored in a hydrogen fuel cell is less than the energy required to create it.

Full details of the project at the Central High School Physics website.