

A Promising Step Toward Round-the-Clock Solar Power - testrun
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/531141/a-promising-step-toward-round-the-clock-solar-power/

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fernly
Very unclear; it says "The device" \-- speaking of the catalyst/electrode
system that does the electrolysis -- "uses novel, relatively high-voltage
solar cells to generate the needed electricity." Why? If you need a higher
voltage, you connect more cells in series. Or, for experimental purposes, you
connect to a transformer plugged into the wall.

I do not see why the special and apparently short-lived perovskite solar cells
are a necessary part of a new type of electrolysis system.

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emmelaich
Not mentioned is the lifetime of the electrodes and whether that is accounted
for in the efficiency calculations.

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dnautics
Actually it is mentioned. "For one thing, it only lasts a few hours before the
solar cell performance quickly drops off."

Interestingly there is a class of water splitting enzymes that also use nickel
and iron... Oxidative inactivation by oxygen is a big part of their loss of
activity. NiFe hydrogenases are odd beasts too, their nickels are attached to
sufurs and their irons are attached to carbon monoxides, although CO prefers
nickels and S prefers iron.

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dgacmu
Previous commenter is right - the quote you pasted is about the lifetime of
the solar cell itself, not the electrodes.

Both are interesting and important. The article addressed only the lifetime of
the solar cells.

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scep12
Sounds similar to work by Dan Nocera at MIT:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/technology/the-
artificial-...](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/technology/the-artificial-
leaf-is-here-again.html)

