Limiting efficiency of high-temperature solar hydrogen production

Production of hydrogen at a high efficiency can be achieved by providing an electrolysis device with heat and electricity simultaneously. The common trend is to use the arguably-safe nuclear. In this study, we present an optical arrangement for simultaneous conversion of concentrated sunlight into electricity and heat. The core feature of the optics is to split the solar spectrum at a specific wavelength and direct the high energy photons towards a solar cell and the remaining part of the spectrum is conducted as radiative energy through a light guide for heating the electrolyser. Therefore, to operate the electrolyser at its optimum current-voltage-heat regime, the solar spectrum needs to be split and concentrated properly. In this research, we construct a model to determine the optimal design and operational temperature of the solar electrolysis process. Limiting efficiencies ranged between 71% and 74%, when light concentration decreased from 1000 suns to I sun.