Solar to Hydrogen fuel cell

[610Alpha]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20091185-54/a-hybrid-solar-panel-to-make-hydrogen/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Found this article to be very interesting, thought some of you might like to see it.

[eeyore]

From the article

Under the glass of Hotz's solar collector are copper tubes, coated with aluminum and aluminum oxide, which carry water and methanol. Once the liquid is heated to a sufficient temperature, a catalyst is added to cause hydrogen atoms to break off. That hydrogen gas is then piped and pressured for storage in a tank, where it can be drawn on to make electricity in a fuel cell.

It would be intresting to see how this continues to develop, what bothers me about this process is the "catalyst" and what it is, the shelf life, and the cost.

[610Alpha]

You read it!! Methanol, water, and some unknown catalyst. How pure does the water have to be? Do you have to any of the chemicals including the water? The best would be a continuous loop of releasing hydrogen to the fuel cell then the hydrogen being added back to the original system...IMHO.