Proceedings of MATSUS23 & Sustainable Technology Forum València (STECH23) (MATSUS23)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.matsus.2023.222
Publication date: 22nd December 2022
Green hydrogen will play an important role in the energy transition as a renewable energy vector for long-duration energy storage and as feedstock chemical for the industry. To reduce the price below 1.5 €/ kg H2, competitive to production from fossil fuels, PV-powered efficient anion exchange membrane (AEM) water electrolysis is a promising combination. Practical implementation of such a PV-EC technology requires standard area-sized solar cells and electrolyzers operated at large current densities (>400mA/cm2). Nonetheless, state-of-the-art research often employs <10cm2 PV devices and electrolyzers operated at current densities <10mA/cm2.
In this work a commercially relevant PV-EC system that couples shingled standard silicon technology with AEM electrolysis based on high surface area nickel nanomesh electrodes is presented. AEM water electrolysis combines the advantage of using low-cost materials such as nickel electrodes with the high operation current densities shown in proton-exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis. The nanomesh electrodes developed in our group consist of a regular 3D-network of interconnected nanowires with a large surface area of 26m2/cm3 and a porosity of 70%. [1] These exceptional properties result in >100x current enhancement for the hydrogen evolution reaction compared to planar nickel electrodes due to the accessibility of a high number of active surface sites and outperforms commercial nickel foams. The photovoltaic module and the electrolyzer were wire-connected over a custom-build monitoring unit that in-situ measures the amount of produced H2, operating current & voltage of the system over the entire operation time. We demonstrate stable solar-to-hydrogen efficiency (ηSTH) of 10% at highest electrolyzer current densities seen in literature (58mA/cm2) over >20h.
Based on the measured PV-EC system data best practices to accurately determine the ηSTH for PV-powered and (photo)electrocatalytic water splitting devices and the validation of this benchmark against important component parameters for practical technology implementation are discussed.
This work has been financed by the PROCURA project (“Power to X and Carbon Capture & Utilization Roadmap for Belgium”) funded by the FOD Economy (K.M.O., Middenstand en Energie).
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