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# Energy-Generating Solar-Powered Toilet
- URL: https://ivn.us/energy-generating-solar-powered-toilet/
- Published: 2012-08-18T14:45:01.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-22T19:30:20.000Z
- Author: Bob Morris
- Tags: News

The California Institute of Technology has been awarded $100,000 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a [solar-powered toilet that recycles water and produces energy](http://inhabitat.com/bill-gates-awards-100000-prize-to-caltech-for-solar-powered-toilet/?ref=ivn.us). A primary focus of the Gates Foundation and their [Reinvent The Toilet Challenge](http://www.gatesfoundation.org/watersanitationhygiene/Pages/home.aspx?ref=ivn.us) is sanitation in Third World countries.

> The solar toilet stall uses a large panel to generate power for an electrochemical reactor that breaks down feces and urine into hydrogen gas. The gas can then be stored in fuel cells that provide back-up electricity for low light weather conditions or at night. Recovered water, which become sanitized through operation of the toilet, is used to flush.