Renewable hydrogen production: A techno-economic comparison of photoelectrochemical cells and photovoltaic-electrolysis

Grimm, Alexa; Jong, Wouter A. de; Kramer, Gert Jan

doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.06.092

Cited by 145 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The total costs of the systems were estimated using the methods and assumptions for component costs from recent works on similar systems. [ 4,57 ] The systems were designed for a production rate of 10 tons H 2 /day for a plant lifetime of 20 years. A solar capacity factor of 20% was considered for all three systems.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct Solar Hydrogen Generation at 20% Efficiency Using Low‐Cost Materials

Wang

Sharma

Arandiyan

et al. 2021

Advanced Energy Materials

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While direct solar‐driven water splitting has been investigated as an important technology for low‐cost hydrogen production, the systems demonstrated so far either required expensive materials or presented low solar‐to‐hydrogen (STH) conversion efficiencies, both of which increase the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH). Here, a low‐cost material system is demonstrated, consisting of perovskite/Si tandem semiconductors and Ni‐based earth‐abundant catalysts for direct solar hydrogen generation. NiMo‐based hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst is reported, which has innovative “flower‐stem” morphology with enhanced reaction sites and presents very low reaction overpotential of 6 mV at 10 mA cm−2. A perovskite solar cell with an unprecedented high open circuit voltage (Voc) of 1.271 V is developed, which is enabled by an optimized perovskite composition and an improved surface passivation. When the NiMo hydrogen evolution catalyst is wire‐connected with an optimally designed NiFe‐based oxygen evolution catalyst and a high‐performance perovskite‐Si tandem cell, the resulting integrated water splitting cell achieves a record 20% STH efficiency. Detailed analysis of the integrated system reveals that STH efficiencies of 25% can be achieved with realistic improvements in the perovskite cell and an LCOH below ≈$3 kg−1 is feasible.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct Solar Hydrogen Generation at 20% Efficiency Using Low‐Cost Materials

Wang

Sharma

Arandiyan

et al. 2021

Advanced Energy Materials

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“…15 In another work, LCOH for the off-grid PVelectrolyzer system was found to be 0.42 €Ám −3 of H 2 , with a solar to hydrogen efficiency of 10.9%. 19 Another cost estimate for solar-to-hydrogen concepts comes from Touili et al, 18 who consider a PV-PEM electrolyzer system, presumably coupled without DC-DC converters. The analysis was carried out for 52 locations in Morocco, resulting in hydrogen costs ranging from 0.39 to 0.41 €Ám −3 .…”

Section: Lcoh Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Under European climate conditions, it was shown that solar PV-to-hydrogen (no battery integrated) using conventional electrolyzer has a production efficiency of 10.9%. 19 Not all these previous studies focused on production efficiency despite that hydrogen production efficiency of the system can help optimizing other system components such as PV configuration. 20 Besides, a similar study concluded that electricity storage in hydrogen is more advantageous than in batteries due to the smaller investment outlays.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar electricity storage through green hydrogen production: A case study

Fopah-Lele

Kabore-Kere²,

Tamba

et al. 2021

Int J Energy Res

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“…[ 137 ] In 2020, more recent estimates of the LCOH for an off‐grid PV–E system and a PEC system was estimated to be US$6.22 kg −1 H 2 and US$8.42 kg −1 H 2 , respectively. [ 361 ] Results from these studies suggest that PEC hydrogen systems are not currently cost‐competitive with existing alternatives in the market. One primary driving force to deploy disruptive technologies, such as PEC hydrogen systems, would be economic considerations and much research is focused on how to make these systems less expensive to produce.…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Inorganic Photoelectrode Developments and Reactor Scale‐Up Challenges for Solar Hydrogen Production

Moss

Babacan

Kafizas

et al. 2021

Advanced Energy Materials

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Green hydrogen, produced using solar energy, is a promising means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting devices can produce hydrogen using sunlight and integrate the distinct functions of photovoltaics and electrolyzers in a single device. There is flexibility in the degree of integration between these electrical and chemical energy generating components, and so a plethora of archetypal PEC device designs has emerged. Although some materials have effectively been ruled out for use in commercial PEC devices, many principles of material design and synthesis have been learned. Here, the fundamental requirements of PEC materials, the top performances of the most widely studied inorganic photoelectrode materials, and reactor structures reported for unassisted solar water splitting are revisited. The main phenomena limiting the performance of up‐scaled PEC devices are discussed, showing that engineering must be considered in parallel with material development for the future piloting of PEC water splitting systems. To establish the future commercial viability of this technology, more accurate techno‐economic analyses should be carried out using data from larger scale demonstrations, and hence more durable and efficient PEC systems need to be developed that meet the challenges imposed from both material and engineering perspectives.

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Renewable hydrogen production: A techno-economic comparison of photoelectrochemical cells and photovoltaic-electrolysis

Cited by 145 publications

References 21 publications

Direct Solar Hydrogen Generation at 20% Efficiency Using Low‐Cost Materials

Direct Solar Hydrogen Generation at 20% Efficiency Using Low‐Cost Materials

Solar electricity storage through green hydrogen production: A case study

A Review of Inorganic Photoelectrode Developments and Reactor Scale‐Up Challenges for Solar Hydrogen Production

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