The quantity of bubbles is meager at best huh??? Please share links to H2 generators that are producing their H2 from just sunlight and water and are demonstrating what 'copious' amounts of H2 should actually look like. HYSR has not published the exact efficiency they are achieving. ilduce456 posted an email from Tim on the board where he stated they had already achieved 15%. Their stated goal is a minimum of 10%. You miss the point that they don't even necessarily have to power anything. It's just a big plus! All they have to do is hit certain figures,numbers and prove their tech can be scaled up to commercial viability they can partner or be bought up. Multiple options for success here.
One would notice that a section of page 23 of the DOE 2015 report under the heading “Production Highlights -Photoelectrochemical” (PEC, ie artificial photosynthesis) was misqouted or got mixed up. Page 23 was highlighting the benchmark established by the DOE for commercial application of hydrogen production ie a) >20% hydrogen conversion efficiency and b) > 1000 hours of stable operation or durability. This is the DOE metric to meet the cost targets for commercial production. See link for details.
There was no mention of HYSR in the 2015 report because more significant progress in efficiency had only taken place in 2017-2018.
On the latest publication as of April 9, 2018, HYSR had achieved a new record: 290 hours without degradation of catalyst and 870 hours of stable device operation or durability. This is a significant development with reference to the 2015 DOE report which cited NREL’s performance of stable device operation of 460 hours (see above link for reference of 460 hours). The 870 hour achievement highlights the progress that HYSR made by breaching the 460 hour record. see Globenewswire link.
While ~ 18 % was an estimate for H2 conversion efficiency and hadnt been officially achieved yet, it was modeled after the NREL’s research using a tandem multi junction PEC device with 12% efficiency (see link - JTurner below). And what’s the significance of NREL? NREL is a US government laboratory for renewable energy funded by the DOE (see link- DOE- NREL).
How does HYSR plan to achieve the ~18% goal or at best > 20%? The answers are based on 1) the triple multi junction layer (as oppose to tandem- dual used by NREL), 2) the incorporation of Ruthenium in the device and collaboration with industrial and 3) collaboration with commercial coating companies. Ruthenium is 20x reduced cost and replaces Platinum, which is the best catalyst in H2 production (see links for details).
“Successful long-term stability of the oxygen catalyst approaching 1000 hours will enable highly robust and stable operation of Gen 1.0 device under alkaline water. GEN 1 is the Company’s planned first generation solar-hydrogen device based on commercially available amorphous silicon triple-junction solar cells.” (Globewire- see above link)
Bubble volume did not weigh in per DOE metrics simply because sufficient quantity of bubble production would follow when the efficiency and stability tests are met (ie >20% efficiency and >1000 hours). The DOE is very clear on the metrics so stay away from the idea of counting bubbles generated by the device. See above link - page 23
By knowing the DOE metrics wise investment decisions would be made instead of relying on PR’s, speculations and innuendos.