SANTA BARBARA, CA – July 21, 2015 –HyperSolar, Inc. (OTCQB: HYSR), the developer of a breakthrough technology to produce renewable hydrogen using sunlight and water, today provided a Company update from its CEO, Tim Young. Mr. Young detailed some of the accomplishments from the past six months:
•§Technological Advancements. The first half of 2015 has yielded two significant announcements in regards to our technology. The first was that our team of scientists identified a low-cost, water-based manufacturing process, allowing our team to increase the voltage needed to produce renewable hydrogen using only sunlight. In order to do so, the team at University of Iowa developed an innovative and patent protected water-based process where solar cell materials are stacked on top of each other literally by "dipping" into low-cost beakers of solutions containing appropriate chemistries. This allows our process to rely on inexpensive earth abundant materials to produce the solar cell component, rather than rare earth materials. The second announcement surrounded voltage, as our research team achieved a breakthrough milestone of 1.4 volts (V), a giant step forward towards reaching the 1.5 V needed to effectively split water molecules in commercial systems. This announcement, coupled with the identification of the low-cost process, allows our research teams to focus efforts on developing a complete prototype of a self-contained solar-powered hydrogen production unit with photovoltage more than 1.5 V.
•§Hydrogen Fuel Market Continues to Expand. 2014 saw a high volume of attention drawn to the hydrogen fuel space, which maintained momentum throughout this year. The automotive industry continues to dominate headlines, as manufacturers including BMW, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda, and others have either released hydrogen fuel cell vehicles now commercially available, or have plans to do so in the very near future. This has generated significant mainstream consumer interest, while there has been increased adoption and exploration of hydrogen fuel solutions in the industrial sector. Major brands including Wal-Mart Kroger, Proctor & Gamble, Home Depot, and others have established relationships with companies like PlugPower in order to power material handing fleets, such as forklifts, in their distribution warehouses. The market for these applications and others looks strong, as Research and Markets just released a report - Global Fuel Cell market Forecast and Opportunities, 2020 - projecting the fuel cell market to surpass $3 billion USD by 2020.
•§Exposure. HyperSolar has also achieved a larger profile within media coverage of the hydrogen fuel cell industry. Much of this coverage is attributed to the Company’s technological breakthroughs, an example being the GreenCarReports article chronicling the 1.4 V milestone achievements. This article garnered extensive attention from devoted readers, resulting in over 235 comments on the article, fostering discussion not only about the Company, but also hydrogen fuel production in general. HyperSolar leadership has also been tasked with commenting on the hydrogen sector, as The Guardian, one of the six largest newspapers in the world, sought our insight for a story on artificial photosynthesis as a means for turning CO2 into fuel for a car. For this piece, our lead researcher, Syed Mubeen Jawahar Hussaini, assistant professor of chemical and biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa, contributed his thoughts along with my own.
•§Need For Renewable Hydrogen Solutions. As the media and financial analysts continue to explore the viability of a hydrogen future, the need for renewable hydrogen has emerged as a popular discussion topic. Most hydrogen today is “brown” hydrogen made from natural gas in a process that emits carbon dioxide during manufacturing. By comparison, “green” hydrogen, such as ours, is completely renewable, developed from sources such as wind or solar, resulting in a much cleaner process in which the only by-product is water. There are a number of global advancements being made in the renewable space. Recently, Air Products supplied a SmartFuel station to India, marking the first solar powered hydrogen fueling station in the country. However, the Air Products system uses conventional electrolyzers, an inherently expensive technology, to perform the water-splitting. Shortly following this announcement, several articles appeared stressing the importance of identifying renewable forms of hydrogen production, inferring that only then would hydrogen fuel be considered a true zero emission energy alternative. HyperSolar’s process is completely renewable and designed to be cost-competitive with “brown” hydrogen; increasing its marketability as regulators seek to reduce the impact of fossil fuels in the hydrogen fuel production process. Mr. Young stated “We are pleased with the technology advancements made due to the collaboration between the University of Iowa and University of California, Santa Barbara, which has resulted in the major breakthroughs achieved this year. We believe that these announcements, coupled with the growing market appetite for consumer and industrial hydrogen fuel cell applications, represent a significant opportunity for us. We will continue to strive to develop a prototype capable of showcasing our technology’s potential for real world systems, all while driving down cost. This strategy is what we believe will establish us as a major player in the hydrogen industry, ultimately realizing investor value.” HyperSolar’s research is centered on developing a low-cost and submersible hydrogen production particle that can split water molecules under the sun, emulating the core functions of photosynthesis. Each particle is a complete hydrogen generator that contains a novel high voltage solar cell bonded to chemical catalysts by a proprietary encapsulation coating. A video of an early proof-of-concept prototype can be viewed at http://hypersolar.com/application.php. |