>artificial photosynthesis" focuses not on carbon fixation but on the transformation of light to electrochemical energy (via electron/proton transfer).
Then why call it photosynthesis? It's not, it's photovoltaics. If you want photosynthesis you have have to fix carbon, or you're making a mockery of the term. And if you are making hydrogen directly, then call it photolysing.
Either way you are not synthesizing anything.
I didn't realize that chlorine is preferred to O2, but what does it matter? I don't want O2, I want H2, and once all the chlorine is gone, won't the sodium hydroxide work just as well as NaCl? Or is that what you mean by 'very basic environment'?
They should rewrite that article and omit any mention of solar, just say they invented a new cheaper way to electrolyze water. Applications include storing energy from solar or wind for when the sun isn't shining.
Doesn't the above paragraph make a lot more sense than the parent article?