If we assume BLP's SunCell works as advertised, it would seem to me that they need to design something better for the ignition process than pouring particles over the rollers. I don't see how that could ever be made reliable, but that might just be a limitation of my imagination.
It seems to me that electrolysis is a necessary part of the process (although happening with a small amount of water). It seems like an alternative process would be an electrolytic cell with electrodes made out of the correct material. This would result in conversion to thermal energy, which would probably be less efficient than converting light to electricity if that's the goal. But if heat is the goal then I think it should be considered--in particular if it would be more reliable. I realize I am making a lot of assumptions (even that it works), but it would seem to be worth exploring. I ordered a spot welder recently, which should arrive soon, and I will attempt some experiments. It won't have the same level of power that BLP's has, so it may not work. In one video, Mills did note that in the experiment without the rollers that 3KW or 5J was enough to ignite the process. This is an 8KVA model, so maybe something interesting can happen. Best regards, Jack
