Enhancing solar-powered hydrogen production efficiency by spectral beam splitting and integrated chemical energy storage

Juan Fang, Miaomiao Yang, Junpeng Sui, Tengqi Luo, Yinsheng Yu, Yunjin Ao, Ruifeng Dou, Wenning Zhou, Wei Li, Xunliang Liu and Kai Zhao

Applied Energy, 2024, vol. 372, issue C, No S0306261924012169

Abstract: Solar energy-powered electrolytic water splitting represents a promising avenue for hydrogen production. However, current technologies for solar-driven hydrogen generation still face the challenges such as low efficiency and significant fluctuations in solar energy availability. This paper proposes a full-spectrum solar hydrogen production system integrated with spectral beam splitting technology and chemical energy storage to address these issues. The high-grade solar energy is allocated for generating electricity through photovoltaic cells, while the low-grade solar energy is utilized in the dry reforming of methane (DRM) process to produce syngas, which in turn is used for flexible electricity generation. Dispatchable electricity converting from syngas, along with intermittent electricity form photovoltaic cells, powers a solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) to produce hydrogen. The results demonstrate that the energy efficiency is 32.08%. In addition, more than half (56.6%) of the electrolysis capacity can be utilized during night hours due to thermochemical energy storage (syngas). In addition, a year-long operation simulation showed that the system can diminish CO2 emission by 25.7% to produce the same amount of hydrogen. The full-spectrum solar hydrogen production system provides a viable option for the transition from fossil energy to renewable energy.

Keywords: Hydrogen production; Solar energy; Spectral beam splitting; Chemical energy storage; Photovoltaic/thermal system (PV/T) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261924012169
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:372:y:2024:i:c:s0306261924012169

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 405891/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.123833

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan

More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().