How to Produce Hydrogen With Solar
- 1). Cut off the erasers from two pencils and sharpen both ends. For larger projects, larger pieces of graphite can be used; these should be available from laboratory suppliers. Since graphite is made of carbon, it is electrically neutral and will not dissolve into the water when a current is passed through it.
- 2). Fill a container with warm water.
- 3). Strip both ends of two electrical wires and wrap one end of each wire around the end of one pencil. Wrap one end of the other wire around the other pencil tip, and secure both by wrapping the tip in electrical tape.
- 4). Place a sheet of cardboard over the water container and poke the pencils through it, with their bare ends immersed in the water but not touching the bottom.
- 5). Wrap the free end of one wire around the positive terminal on a solar panel, and the free end of the other wire around the negative terminal.
- 6). Place the assembly in the sun. As long as the panel is putting out at least 1.5 volts of power, bubbles will start to gather around the pencils in the water. The bubbles around the pencil connected to the negative terminal (or cathode) are hydrogen, while the ones around the other pencil are oxygen.
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