Solar and water will power cars that fill up at Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems’ first solar hydrogen filling station.

Using electricity generated from solar or wind power, hydrogen is produced by means of electrolysis. Once tanked with hydrogen in a fueling time of about three minutes, fuel cell cars can travel a distance of more than 400 km.

Sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment Baden-Wuerttemberg, the publically accessible filling station in Freiburg is one of the few stations that exhibits the entire value chain—starting from electricity generated from renewable energy, through electrolysis and ultimately to refueling the vehicle with hydrogen—in the network of hydrogen filling stations being set up in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Since its founding, Fraunhofer ISE has been working on electrolysis technology, hydrogen for use in fuel cells and on hydrogen as electrical energy storage for renewably generated power. The hydrogen filling station serves as a reference project for the researchers as they work to develop emission-free mobility for the future.

Electrolysers operate as flexible loads. They serve to stabilize intermittencies in the grid due to the fluctuating feed-in from renewable energy systems.

via Fraunhofer ISE Debuts Hydrogen Filling Station – Solar Novus Today.