Cool, also saw Professor Maldonado talk about this on "Saturday Morning Physics":<p><a href="http://www.lsa.umich.edu/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=4a609c8d35bbe210VgnVCM10000055b1d38dRCRD" rel="nofollow">http://www.lsa.umich.edu/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgne...</a><p>video:<p><a href="http://lecb.physics.lsa.umich.edu/wl/umich/phys/satmorn/2010/winter/20100410-umwlcd0011-103200/flash.html" rel="nofollow">http://lecb.physics.lsa.umich.edu/wl/umich/phys/satmorn/2010...</a><p>his research lab:<p><a href="http://www.umich.edu/~mgroup/research.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.umich.edu/~mgroup/research.html</a>
Found a comparison graph of efficiency of various solar cell technologies.<p><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/PVeff%28rev110901%29.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/PVeff%28r...</a>
This reminds me of Vonnegut's <i>Ice-nine</i>, but in the inverse. Drop one in the ocean and watch it disappear in a puff of gas.<p>"Science is magic that <i>works</i>." -- obligatory quote from <i>Cat's Cradle</i>
Neat packaging for electrolysis, but I'm trying to imagine where/how this would get used. Not as elegant once you add all the apparatus to capture and store the hydrogen.
Even if this becomes successful it will never be sustainable. What will happen when the Sun runs out of Hydrogen to burn? (in 5 billion years) We may have to find another star. Actually that is even less of a problem to worry about because the Sun will start burning Helium. Once it does the pressure pushing outwards from all the nuclear explosions (helium fusion is more efficient in converting mass to energy) at the core will be greater than the gravity pulling everything in, causing the star to expand into a red giant. The Earth will receive far more energy than it really needs and burn into ashes. So either way we are screwed!.....LOL