The PHOTOSINT project presents solutions to the challenges chemical industries are facing in integrating renewable energy sources into their processes. The project will deliver sustainable processes to produce hydrogen and methanol as energy vectors using only sunlight as an energy source and wastewater and CO2 as feedstocks, making the industries more auto-sufficient. The pathway is based on solar-driven artificial photosynthesis, and aims to develop new catalytic earth-abundant materials and modifications of existing ones to improve catalytic processes. Design parameters of the PEC cell will be tuned to maximize solar to fuel (STF) efficiency. Moreover to improve the conversion for industrial implementation, PHOTOSINT will develop a novel way to concentrate and illuminate the semiconductor surface to maximize overall energy efficiency. Perovskite solar PV cells will be integrated to harvest the light to supply the external electrical voltage. PHOTOSINT is an ambitious project due to precedents in research conducted to date and the low production rate of the desired products. For integrating sunlight energy into the industry, the catalyst will be studied, and then the best one/s will be implemented in prototypes. The obtained results will be used for making scale-up in pilots with tandem PEC cells. These steps are necessary to assess the industrial scale-up feasibility, promoting the increased competitiveness of renewable process energy technologies and energy independence. MeOH and H2 will be tested in engines. Also, an HTPEM fuel cell will be used for electricity generation, and hydrogen will be tested as an alternative fuel for energy generation instead natural gas in melting furnaces avoiding CO2 emissions.

The SUN2CN project aims to deliver a standalone Solar-to-X device for the conversion of simple, low-energy molecules found in waste streams — such as nitrates (NO3-) and carbon dioxide (CO2) — into valuable carbon-nitrogen (C-N) chemicals, using sunlight as the only energy source. C-N chemicals, such as urea and methylamine, critical for the agriculture and pharmaceutical industries, contribute significantly to human health and quality of life. To enable the solar conversion of NO3- and CO2 into C-N chemicals, SUN2CN will develop a fully-integrated photovoltaic (PV)-electrochemical (EC) device that incorporates a porous PV membrane coated with selective electrocatalysts in an innovative flow cell design. The standalone solar-to-X device will provide a sustainable solution for the decentralized production of valuable organonitrogen (C-N) chemicals and wastewater treatment, eliminating the need for fossil resources and energy-intensive ammonia production. SUN2CN aims to achieve a breakthrough in the chemical and energy sectors. It will contribute to the vision of decentralized prosumption of renewable fuels, chemicals, and materials using local resources and solar energy, thereby empowering communities and remote areas.