A Bibliometric Study on Research Trends in Hydrogen Production from Solar Sources Based on Scopus

Abstract

Purpose: To carry out a bibliographic study reviewing scientific works related to hydrogen and thermal/photovoltaic solar energy being published within Brazil and globally. Method/design/approach: The Bibliometrics R tool was applied to analyse document data extracted from the Scopus database. Results and conclusion: Over three thousand documents about hydrogen with photovoltaic energy were found, published in 1,200 journals. Near 6,600 documents were catalogued for the general issue of hydrogen and solar energy. The number of publications per year continuously grew from 1975 to 2022, reaching 200 in recent years. Research implications: The theme related to hydrogen and photovoltaic solar energy still needs to gain space in Brazil, as the number of publications is modest compared with other countries. The present work shows that, despite the increasing attention that this theme is receiving, a lot of potential remains unexplored. Originality/value: This study seeks to map and identify the main published works on hydrogen production from solar-photovoltaic and solar-thermal sources. The study focuses on the global as well as the Brazilian scenario and uses the Scopus database in association with the Bibliometrix R tool to analyse the reported data.