“Sun at the push of a button”

Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have started operation of the “world’s largest artificial sun,” dubbed “Synlight,” at the Jülich Research Centre near Cologne, the DLR says in a press release. Synlight will be used for researching production methods of solar fuels, such as hydrogen, according to the DLR. With a total of 149 xenon short-arc lamps, the system is capable of producing temperatures up to 3,000 degrees Celsius, allowing production of carbon-free hydrogen fuel independent from outdoor weather conditions. Johannes Remmel, environment minister in Synlight’s host state North Rhine-Westphalia, said “the energy transition will falter without investments in innovative research, in state-of-the-art technologies and in global lighthouse projects like Synlight."

Read the press release in English here.

Also see the CLEW dossier New technologies for the Energiewende.