Youmight have installed the world’s largest solar array on your roof, butlike other solar-powered gadgets, the array won’t do any good on anovercast day and after dark, making you suck power from the grid whichisn’t always green. Researchers at Florida State Universitythink that they’ve nailed the problem with a system that generatessolar energy during the day to power your home and also uses it togenerate hydrogen from water which can be used to power everything fromkitchen appliances to lights after dark.
Built at acost of about $575,000, the house is placed in the middle of FSU’scampus. It is equipped with an array of solar panels that generatesolar electricity to power the home during daytime and generatehydrogen from water using electrolysis, which is then stored in a tankfor use when the sun isn’t shining.
Besides using thegenerated hydrogen to power a fuel cell, it is also used as a fuel instoves that have been retrofitted to burn hydrogen instead of naturalgas and propane.