The H₂ start-up water stuff & sun is developing a technology that for the first time combines safe and easy storage with the direct use of green energy. The core component is a microvalve system consisting of several subcomponents. The startup has now successfully tested the first two stages of a five-step pressure regulator that will be able to control the H₂ release in steps from 1000 bar down to a few bar. The pressure regulator is only a few micrometers in size and is the core component of a microvalve system that controls the gas flow inside a silicon chip measuring only 4x4x2 mm.

The miniature pressure regulator will be integrated into tennis-ball-sized carbon fiber high pressure storage cells called SFEERS. SFEERS store renewable energy in the form of compressed gaseous H₂. Many of these cells can safely, easily, and highly efficiently store and transport H₂ for mobile and stationary consumers in a H₂ battery.

The light weight and flexibility of the SFEERS allows for a highly modular system, so that the H₂ battery can be customized to all kinds of energy consuming applications powering H₂ fuel cells or H₂ combustion engines of all sizes.

"A successful energy transition requires a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energies, and H₂ as an energy carrier will be able to make a decisive contribution to this. With our technology, we are making green H₂ safe, cost efficient and easily available and thus competitive with fossil fuels. With the successful development of the pressure regulator prototype, we have achieved a decisive technical breakthrough that represents an important milestone in the overall development of the H₂ battery," said Thomas Korn, CEO and co-founder of water stuff & sun GmbH.