Solar power from hydrogen filled balloons could gather cloudless solar power and provide hydrogen fuel cell power at night

Electro-chemist Jean-François Guillemoles is developing solar energy from balloons that will float above the clouds for uninterrupted energy production during the day.

The main problem with photovoltaic energy is that sunlight can be obscured by clouds, which makes electrical production intermittent and uncertain. But above the cloud cover, the sun shines all day, every day. Anywhere above the planet, there are very few clouds at an altitude of 6 km—and none at all at 20 km.

Solar energy is five times more abundant at 20 kilometers than on the ground