Issue 2, 2019

Computation and assessment of solar electrolyzer field performance: comparing coupling strategies

Abstract

Carbon-free solar fuel generation through use of photovoltaic-driven electrolyzers (PV-ECs) and photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) has recently grown to be a subject of much interest. Advancements have been provided through improved catalytic activity, high-performance tandem PV and extensive materials exploration, development and characterization. The generally accepted figure of merit is solar-to-fuel efficiency (SFE), measured with the device at standard testing conditions (STC) at ‘1 sun’ i.e., 1000 W m−2 insolation, clear sky spectrum, and 25 °C operating temperature. However, this does not offer a comprehensive measure of system performance as actual field operating conditions are rarely close to those used for testing. A thorough understanding of PV-EC field performance under realistic operating conditions can assist in holistic device design and scalability. Here, a model is developed to compute their real-life performance using hourly variation in solar irradiance and air temperature over a one-year period. It is then applied to two systems: a previously reported bench-scale high-efficiency CO2 PV-EC and a MW-scale solar H2O electrolysis system conceptually designed employing commercial solar panels and water electrolyzers. While the use of DC power optimizer devices was shown to increase annual gas yield by up to 5% for an optimally-matched directly-coupled system, the benefit is shown to be much higher for even slightly mismatched systems.

Graphical abstract: Computation and assessment of solar electrolyzer field performance: comparing coupling strategies

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Aug 2018
Accepted
23 Oct 2018
First published
24 Oct 2018

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2019,3, 422-430

Computation and assessment of solar electrolyzer field performance: comparing coupling strategies

Gowri M. Sriramagiri, W. Luc, F. Jiao, K. Ayers, K. D. Dobson and S. S. Hegedus, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2019, 3, 422 DOI: 10.1039/C8SE00399H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements