Coming soon: Rooftop hydrogen

Rooftop solar is passe. Rooftop hydrogen production is the in-thing, reports the Business Line newspaper. 

The report discusses various upcoming technologies that can make small-scale, rooftop production of hydrogen possible. 

It talks about a recently-incorporated company, called Hydrogenium Resources, which plans to put up small electrolysers alongside rooftop solar plants, to make use of any surplus energy (over and above what is self-consumed by the owner of the rooftop plant). This makes sense because if the surplus energy is sold back to the utility (grid), it fetches very little, because the utlities pay pittance for the energy.

                                           Image courtesy: Business Line 

The report quotes the CTO of Ohmium, Dr Chock Karuppiah, as saying that "the key enablers for rooftop hydrogen are the cold-start and rapid start-stop cycling capabilities. It also quotes the CEO of Ohmium, Arne Ballantine, as saying, "yes, the idea of rooftop hydrogen becomes very, very real."

The US-headquartered Ohmium is the only electrolyser manufacturer in India. It has a factory in Bangalore. Recently, it achieved a milestone by shipping its first electrolyser to the US.

If rooftop hydrogen gains ground--as it promises to--then a crop of 'prosumers' will be producing it at the household level. The gas could then be used either for doping cooking gas or as fuel for vehicles. 

Of course, there is the question of costs, but costs are a funtion of scale. Also, it is a business opportunty for MSMEs.

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