Scientists in Germany Switch on the World’s Largest ‘Artificial Sun’

On March 23 this year, scientists at German Aerospace Center turned on the world’s largest “artificial sun” for the first time.

Photo engineer Volkmar Dohmen inspecting the xenon short-arc lamps at the German Aerospace Center in Jülich. Photograph courtesy of: Alliance/Barcroft Images

The world’s biggest solar simulator started emitting light in Jülich, a town situated in western Germany.

The giant honeycomb-like structure which cost $3.8 million to build, is powered by 149 xenon short-arc lamps that are often used for cinema projectors.

According to researchers, the objective of the experiment is to improve the production process of solar fuel manufacturing.

“Sunlight in central Europe is unreliable and irregular, so an artificial Sun is the preferred choice for developing production processes for solar fuels,” states the DLR Institute of Solar Research report.

When the entire array of these industrial-grade film projector spotlights are focused on a single spot, the solar simulator can produce light approximately 10,000 times more intense than solar radiation at the Earth’s surface.

Moreover, the temperatures at the target point of the spotlights can reach up to 3000°C.

By developing such furnace-like conditions, Synlight researchers are trying to test novel ways of making hydrogen fuel, according to the Director of DLR’s Institute for Solar Research, Bernhard Hoffschmidt.

Hydrogen is often considered as the fuel of the future as it produces zero carbon emission on burning. However, hydrogen is a rare element on earth, even though it’s abundantly found in the universe.

At present, the most common way to manufacture hydrogen is electrolysis. The process uses electricity to split water into its two components — hydrogen and oxygen.

Researchers at DLR are now hoping to master hydrogen-making techniques using the immense heat generated by the solar simulator.

According to experts, this could take about a decade, provided sufficient industry support is available.

However, using hydrogen as a fuel comes with its own set of problems, explains Hoffschmidt. For instance, the element is extremely volatile. But by adopting novel techniques like combining hydrogen with carbon monoxide (produced from renewable sources), scientists would be able to produce eco-friendly fuel for the aviation industry in future.

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