Comparing the net-energy balance of standalone photovoltaic-coupled electrolysis and photoelectrochemical hydrogen production.

Autor:	Tam B; Department of Physics, Imperial College London South Kensington London SW7 2AZ UK b.tam18@imperial.ac.uk jenny.nelson@imperial.ac.uk.; Department of Chemistry, Molecular Sciences Research Hub, Imperial College London White City London W12 0BZ UK., Babacan O; Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London South Kensington London SW7 2AZ UK., Kafizas A; Department of Chemistry, Molecular Sciences Research Hub, Imperial College London White City London W12 0BZ UK.; Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London South Kensington London SW7 2AZ UK., Nelson J; Department of Physics, Imperial College London South Kensington London SW7 2AZ UK b.tam18@imperial.ac.uk jenny.nelson@imperial.ac.uk.; Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London South Kensington London SW7 2AZ UK.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Energy & environmental science [Energy Environ Sci] 2024 Jan 15; Vol. 17 (5), pp. 1677-1694. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jan 15 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI:	10.1039/d3ee02814c
Abstrakt:	Photovoltaic-coupled electrolysis (PV-E) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting are two options for storing solar energy as hydrogen. Understanding the requirements for achieving a positive energy balance over the lifetime of facilities using these technologies is important for ensuring sustainability. While neither technology has yet reached full commercialisation, they are also at very different technology readiness levels and scales of development. Here, we model the energy balance of standalone large-scale facilities to evaluate their energy return on energy invested (ERoEI) over time and energy payback time (EPBT). We find that for average input parameters based on present commercialised modules, a PV-E facility shows an EPBT of 6.2 years and ERoEI after 20 years of 2.1, which rises to approximately 3.7 with an EPBT of 2.7 years for favourable parameters using the best metrics amongst large-scale modules. The energy balance of PV-E facilities is influenced most strongly by the upfront embodied energy costs of the photovoltaic component. In contrast, the simulated ERoEI for a PEC facility made with earth abundant materials only peaks at 0.42 after 11 years and about 0.71 after 20 years for facilities with higher-performance active materials. Doubling the conversion efficiency to 10% and halving the degradation rate to 2% for a 10-year device lifetime can allow PEC facilities to achieve an ERoEI after 20 years of 2.1 for optimistic future parameters. We also estimate that recycling the materials used in hydrogen production technologies improves the energy balance by 28% and 14% for favourable-case PV-E and PEC water splitting facilities, respectively. Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest to declare. (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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