Toshiba completes solar-powered hydrogen production/storage system

TOKYO March 26, 2016; Toshiba Corp says its “H2One” stand-alone hydrogen energy supply system has been completed in the “Henna (Weird) Hotel,” a hotel run by Huis Ten Bosch Co Ltd in Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture.

The Henna Hotel is known for its robot reception staff and is located in an area adjacent to the Huis Ten Bosch theme park. The H2One was introduced in the “West Arm” building, which was constructed in the second construction phase.

The H2One is a CO2-free stand-alone hydrogen energy supply system that is based on Toshiba’s unique hydrogen EMS (energy management system) and uses renewable energy and hydrogen to stably supply electricity. It consists of a solar power generation system, storage battery, hydrogen production equipment, hydrogen storage alloy tank and pure hydrogen fuel cell.

In summer, when there are long hours of sunlight, surplus solar electricity is used to electrolyze water with the hydrogen production equipment, and the produced hydrogen is stored in the tank. In winter, the stored hydrogen is used to generate electricity with the pure hydrogen fuel cell. As a result, one hotel building (12 rooms) can be powered by using only water and solar power throughout the year.

The hydrogen tank is made of hydrogen storing alloy, which enables to store hydrogen at a high density. The size of the tank is about 1/10 that of a conventional hydrogen tank, reducing the size of the entire system.

The outputs of the solar power generation system and the entire H2One are 62kW and 54kW, respectively. Also, 1.8MWh of electricity can be stored, and up to 24L of hot water can be supplied per minute.