Development of Various Photovoltaic‐Driven Water Electrolysis Technologies for Green Solar Hydrogen Generation

Abstract

Direct solar hydrogen generation via a combination of photovoltaics (PV) and water electrolysis can potentially ensure a sustainable energy supply while minimizing greenhouse emissions. The PECSYS project aims at demonstrating a solar‐driven electrochemical hydrogen generation system with an area >10 m 2 with high efficiency and at reasonable cost. Thermally integrated PV electrolyzers (ECs) using thin‐film silicon, undoped, and silver‐doped Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 and silicon heterojunction PV combined with alkaline electrolysis to form one unit are developed on a prototype level with solar collection areas in the range from 64 to 2600 cm 2 with the solar‐to‐hydrogen (StH) efficiency ranging from ≈4 to 13%. Electrical direct coupling of PV modules to a proton exchange membrane EC to test the effects of bifaciality (730 cm 2 solar collection area) and to study the long‐term operation under outdoor conditions (10 m 2 collection area) is also investigated. In both cases, StH efficiencies exceeding 10% can be maintained over the test periods used. All the StH efficiencies reported are based on measured gas outflow using mass flow meters.