How it works
Energy captured in six hours of daylight runs the plant for twenty-two.
One cross-section, one clock. Watch a full cycle and you should be able to explain the model to someone else: sun to electrolyser, surplus to heat, heat to electrolyser after dark, and a factory inside the fence that guarantees its own demand.
State 1 of 8 · 06:00
Sunrise, ramp
Concentrators begin tracking. First power flows to the electrolyser while the sand battery discharges the last of yesterday's heat to cover the ramp.
- Energy stored
- 12%
- Autonomy
- Ramp on stored heat
The eight states
The same cycle, in text.
- 06:001/8
Sunrise, ramp
Concentrators begin tracking. First power flows to the electrolyser while the sand battery discharges the last of yesterday's heat to cover the ramp.
Energy stored: 12%
- 09:002/8
Full capture
Peak flow to the electrolyser. Surplus splits to the under-panel fluid and the sand battery, both filling visibly.
H₂ produced today: 56 kg
- 12:003/8
Peak surplus
Electrolyser at rated output. Both stores near full. Hydrogen accumulating in the vessels faster than it leaves.
H₂ produced today: 113 kg
- 15:004/8
Sustained
Capture declining, stores holding. Production stays flat — this is the key visual: the output line does not dip.
H₂ produced today: 169 kg
- 18:005/8
Handover
Direct solar ends. Under-panel fluid takes over the electrolyser load; the flow path visibly reroutes. Output unchanged.
Autonomy remaining: 12 h
- 21:006/8
Thermal run
Fluid store spent. Sand battery discharging at 500–600 °C through the heat engine; electrolyser still running. No grid.
Grid draw: 0 kW
- 00:007/8
Captive draw
The twin factory consumes hydrogen: the roasting chamber runs at 800–1000 °C and the fuel cell powers the line. Demand guaranteed inside the fence.
Captive draw: 30% of output
- 04:008/8
Trough
Stores low. The two-hour margin — the only hours not covered by sunlight — is the gap before dawn. The cycle prepares to restart.
Margin: 2 h
All state figures are modelled for a 1 MW site at Punjab irradiance.