SunHydrogen, the developer of a breakthrough technology to produce renewable H₂ using sunlight and water, announced that the company has entered into a consulting agreement with three of Japan’s top experts in the field of photocatalytic green H₂ production.

Beginning in December 2023, SunHydrogen is set to receive specialized guidance from Prof. Kazunari Domen, Dr. Hiroshi Nishiyama and Dr. Taro Yamada of the University of Tokyo on the design and optimization of SunHydrogen's panel technology, including the balance of systems, based on their experience. Their input will be crucial in enhancing process efficiency and reducing the overall levelized cost of H₂ production for pilot scale demonstrations – Prof. Domen alone brings a highly decorated career of over 90,000 citations and over 800 publications.

Prof. Domen, Dr. Nishiyama and Dr. Yamada are all key participants in Japan’s ARPChem project, a collaborative research initiative backed by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) that demonstrated the feasibility of producing solar hydrogen through photocatalytic water splitting on an area scale of 100m² and a time scale of one year.

Moving forward, NEDO expects to spend $260 MM in support of ARPChem and the University of Tokyo as they work together to conduct a field test featuring photocatalytic green H₂ panels.

"We are thrilled to embark on this collaboration with Prof. Domen, Dr. Nishiyama and Dr. Yamada, renowned leaders in photocatalytic green H₂ production," said SunHydrogen’s Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Syed Mubeen. "Their vast experience and groundbreaking work in this field are invaluable assets for our team. We are looking forward to harnessing their insights on panel design and process scale-up to accelerate our pilot demonstrations."