23-Mar-2017: Scientists switched on The World's Largest "Artificial Sun"

Scientists in Germany have switched on the world’s largest artificial Sun "synlight" for the first time. It's located in Jülich, Germany and operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

“Synlight” uses 149 xenon lamps to recreate the light from the Sun onto a single point, vaporizing water and producing hydrogen and oxygen. The huge machine towers 14 meters (45 feet) high and 16 meters (52 feet) across, and produces temperatures of up to 3,000°C (5,400°F) focused on a single spot 20 by 20 centimeters (8 by 8 inches). This particular test lasted just 15 to 20 minutes, producing a tiny amount of hydrogen, but the lamps can theoretically be run continuously for hours or even a day.

The lamps have an output of 350 kilowatts, and supposedly produce 10,000 times the intensity of solar radiation on Earth. Its spectrum of UV radiation is similar to that of the Sun. When focused onto a metal sheet in a small reactor device, it splits water up into hydrogen and oxygen.

Synlight's goal is to replicate the process using sunlight to produce usable amounts of hydrogen.