Records were recorded in the photovoltaic solar energy sector in 2013. This is at least stated by EPIA, the European Association of the Photovoltaic Industry. They installed 38.4 gigawatts, and the power that already exists around the world is 138.9. Despite the increase in figures, however, there are still some problems related to renewables.

“One of the main challenges is to take advantage of solar and wind when there is no sun or wind,” says Xabier Diaz Silvestre, director of the BTEK center in Bizkaia. “If 100% consumption is expected in a region, to ensure these 100 in the absence of sun and wind, a thermal power plant must be installed, in addition to the photovoltaic panels and windmills. But that is not economically viable.” The solution is to install 150 renewables and accumulate a surplus of 50 to use when necessary. How are they stacked?

One of the outstanding projects to address this challenge is the Zero Hytechpark project, which studies the possibilities of hydrogen as an energy storage vector. Within it is precisely the BTEK. Díaz Silvestre insists that the objective will not be achieved immediately, but that it will arrive in time. “I believe that the solution to the problem will not only be hydrogen, but will probably be a combination of several technologies.”