In a renewable, hydrogen based energy economy, power from wind turbines or photovoltaics, for example, will be used to provide electricity to homes and businesses when needed, and stored as hydrogen produced by electrolysis of water when not needed. The stored hydrogen can later be converted back to electricity using fuel cells to provide power during times of limited solar or wind activity. In this multi-divisional project, we are constructing a small-scale system, demonstrating the ability to generate hydrogen (Hydrogen Production Division), store the hydrogen (Hydrogen Storage and Thermophysical Properties of Hydrogen Divisions), and then release the hydrogen for energy production using either polymer electrolyte or solid oxide electrolyte fuel cells (Fuel Cell Division).
