Prediction of Limits of Solar‐to‐Hydrogen Efficiency from Polarization Curves of the Electrochemical Cells

Abstract

The ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article can be found under https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.202100783.

An artificial leaf device built with earth-abundant materials for combined H2 production and storage as formate with efficiency > 10%

“…Furthermore, the PV module and the EC cell were designed to offer a correct matching to operate at the best working point. 57 Additional reductions of the overvoltage of the two half-cell reactions (CO 2 reduction and oxygen evolution reactions) will lead to even higher performance values.…”

Solar H2 production systems: current status and prospective applications

“…If there is an optimal match between the electrolyzer I – V curve and photovoltaic P MP , P EC is equal to P MP and C = 1, otherwise C is below 1. 21 Such an expression suggests that η STH,T will depend on both photovoltaic and electrolyzer efficiency and coupling optimization. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the highest photovoltaic efficiency achieved up to now is around 50%, 22 while the electrolyzer efficiency ranges from 56% to 73%.…”

Scalable Photovoltaic‐Electrochemical Cells for Hydrogen Production from Water ‐ Recent Advances

“…Since J PV is equal to J EC in the integrated PV‐EC device, the crossing point where both I–V curves meet can ideally be considered operation current J op [the maximum STH efficiency can be predicted by the ‘reverse analysis’ where the polarization curves of EC can be considered for the maximum STH efficiency by coupling to the maximum power point (MPP) of PV devices] [6m] . Consequently, many articles report solar fuel efficiency by using the crossing point as operation current.…”