Modelling and analysis of a novel hydrogen production approach by full spectrum solar energy

Abstract

For the development of hydrogen energy, it is very important to find a green and efficient hydrogen production approach. By comparing the existing hydrogen production methods, it can be found that using clean and inexhaustible solar energy to produce hydrogen is very promising. Therefore, for efficient hydrogen production from solar energy, a novel hydrogen production approach using full spectrum solar energy by combining photothermal synergistic reaction with photovoltaic power generation electrolysis water is proposed in the paper. And the relevant hybrid hydrogen production model is also established for calculation and discussion. The simulation results show that the efficiency of the proposed hydrogen production approach can reach 21.05% when the elementary reaction time is 1 ns. However, under the same solar radiation conditions and parameters, if the photothermal synergistic reaction and photovoltaic power generation electrolytic water are simulated separately, the hydrogen production efficiency using only the photothermal synergistic reaction is 7.9% and the hydrogen production efficiency using only photovoltaic power generation electrolytic water is 19.19%. Compared with these two methods, the hydrogen production efficiency of this hybrid hydrogen production approach has been greatly improved. And the hydrogen production efficiency curves of this approach under different conditions (including different separation wavelengths, different photovoltaic panel materials, and different electrolysis temperatures) have been also studied in the paper. Therefore, this study can provide a new train of thought for solar hydrogen production approaches, which may provide guidance for realizing green and efficient hydrogen energy production.