“A unique combination of physics and chemistry”. With these synthetic words Professor Johan Martens, of the Belgian University KU Leuven, already in 2019 explained the special “waterstofpanelen”. A domestic photovoltaic panel capable of producing hydrogen from the air.

After 3 years, today the device can count on several prototypes. And on a dedicated company, the university spin-off Solhyd Project which is about to install the first pilot production line.

Through the support of the Belgian government and the technical assistance of Comate Engineering & Design, the project managed to make the first big leap in quality. In fact, it has a new site at its disposal in Bierbeek, a city not far from Leuven. As the company explains in a press release: “Here we have the space to develop and test hydrogen panels, but also to produce them.

Initially, we will produce several dozen panels for small-scale test setups. But there is room for more. Thanks to government subsidies, we can develop a pilot production line here. Eventually we could produce hundreds and even thousands of modules.”

The main big goal of the project is to make green hydrogen accessible to everyone through a technology that is easy to manage and install. As explained by Jan Rongé, founder of the Solhyd Project, from the pages of vrt.be. “We expect that from 2030 it will be possible to install hydrogen panels on the roofs of houses”.