SunHydrogen Extends Partnership with Schmid Group of Germany and Gives Progress Update
CEO Tim Young visits the Schmid Group headquarters in Freudenstadt, Germany.
SANTA BARBARA, CA – October 18, 2021 – SunHydrogen, Inc. (OTC:HYSR), the developer of a breakthrough technology to produce renewable hydrogen using sunlight and water, today provided an update to its shareholders from its Chief Executive Officer, Tim Young, as follows.
As announced in a previous communication, I recently visited our development partner, Schmid Group, at their headquarters and development labs in Freudenstadt, Germany. While we have contracted with Schmid to achieve multiple goals, the primary goal of the partnership is to bring our nanoparticle hydrogen generation technology from lab scale to full commercial scale. Once scaled, our nanoparticle technology can be inserted into hydrogen housing panels to produce hydrogen for use in fuel cells and various other applications including industrial, residential and commercial settings. Currently, two of our scientists from the University of Iowa research team, Blake Bryson and Shiljashree Vijay, are also in Germany working side by side with the Schmid team.
Firstly, I would like to say that I was very impressed with Schmid’s personnel and facilities, and it was a pleasure to see the team at work in person. Not only does Schmid have a well-established history in advancing renewable hydrogen, but they have also proven to be innovative in printed circuit boards, solar PV, and the etching of glass for leading cell phone manufacturers. Most recently, they have worked to develop nano silicon materials that will replace graphite, giving lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles longer range and faster charging times.
At SunHydrogen, our process consists of growing nanoparticles, each with an anode and a cathode, that can individually split a water molecule into oxygen and hydrogen using just the Sun’s energy. These particles are grown on electronic substrates, and there are more than one billion nanoparticles per square centimeter of substrate. To achieve efficient hydrogen production, we stack different semiconductor nanoparticles on top of each other and cap them with hydrogen and oxygen production catalysts. As we scale in size from lab scale to commercial scale, maintaining a very high current density (flow of electric current over a cross-section) is both challenging and essential.
We chose to partner with Schmid because they demonstrated themselves to be capable in three important aspects of our development: The scale-up of our nanoparticle substrates to commercial size; the design and manufacturing of our housing units; and the design of manufacturing equipment to ensure the entire process is economic from start to finish.
Secondly, I would like to say that while we have overcome many hurdles in the initial months of our contract with Schmid, the scale-up of any nanoparticle process in an aqueous environment is extremely challenging and difficult. I am pleased to say, however, that the Schmid team is very dedicated to helping us reach commercialization, evidenced by the fact that they granted us a no-cost contract extension that will again be reevaluated at the end of 2021.
Achieving our final goal of commercialization will take many vendors and partners, which is why we have also contracted with InRedox of Colorado to help with anodization, a quintessential process to grow multi-junction nanoparticles onto solid substrates; the University of Michigan to help increase our catalysts’ efficiency; and most recently MSC Co. LTD, a Korean company, to assist with our electroplating process.
Pulling the entire process together will take time, and while our team has set very aggressive timeline goals, there may be setbacks along the way given the breakthrough nature of our technology. While our process is challenging, it brings a myriad of advantages and rises above the conventional electrolyzer solutions we see on the market today. Our solution does not require electrical energy from an external source, and by utilizing the Sun alone to generate hydrogen, we expect to cut costs greatly and eliminate the need for expensive power electronics like AC-DC rectifiers or wirings.
It is for all these reasons and more that we are committed to bringing our vision to fruition. Please know though that we have a dedicated and growing team, very reputable partners, and sufficient capital to see the process through to success.
Thank you very much for your continued support. We look forward to ongoing communication with our shareholders and supporters as we continue making progress toward commercialization.
Sincerely,
Tim Young
CEO