Research advances towards large-scale solar hydrogen production from water
- Solar hydrogen production from water is a sustainable route for fuel production with a net zero carbon footprint.
- The limiting factors for large-scale solar hydrogen production are yet to be addressed.
- Research on solar hydrogen production has advanced fast from lab-scale demonstrations to field tests of upscaled systems.
- Recent progress of four potentially cost-effective pathways towards large-scale solar hydrogen production is reviewed.
Solar hydrogen production from water is a sustainable alternative to traditional hydrogen production route using fossil fuels. However, there is still no existing large-scale solar hydrogen production system to compete with its counterpart. In this Review, recent developments of four potentially cost-effective pathways towards large-scale solar hydrogen production, viz. photocatalytic, photobiological, solar thermal and photoelectrochemical routes, are discussed, respectively. The limiting factors including efficiency, scalability and durability for scale-up are assessed along with the field performance of the selected systems. Some benchmark studies are highlighted, mostly addressing one or two of the limiting factors, as well as a few recent examples demonstrating upscaled solar hydrogen production systems and emerging trends towards large-scale hydrogen production. A techno-economic analysis provides a critical comparison of the levelized cost of hydrogen output via each of the four solar-to-hydrogen conversion pathways.
- Access the article at the publisher: DOI: 10.1016/j.enchem.2019.100014
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