TY  - JOUR
AU  - Astakhov, Oleksandr
AU  - Smirnov, Vladimir
AU  - Rau, Uwe
AU  - Merdzhanova, Tsvetelina
TI  - Prediction of Limits of Solar‐to‐Hydrogen Efficiency from Polarization Curves of the Electrochemical Cells
JO  - Solar RRL
VL  - 6
IS  - 2
SN  - 2367-198X
CY  - Weinheim
PB  - Wiley-VCH
M1  - FZJ-2022-00426
SP  - 2100783
PY  - 2022
AB  - The maximum solar-to-hydrogen efficiency (STH) in directly coupled photovoltaic-assisted water-splitting systems is achieved when the photovoltaic (PV) and electrochemical (EC) devices are power matched precisely. This matching requires that the polarization curve of the EC device crosses the current–voltage (IV) characteristics of the PV device at its maximum power point (MPP). Conversely, each point on the EC polarization curve can be considered the MPP of a PV device optimally coupled to the EC device. Therefore, at each point on the polarization curve, the minimum PV efficiency and maximum EC efficiency can be calculated for a specific irradiance. The product of both efficiencies generates the STH limit that can be attained at that specific point on the polarization curve. This “reverse analysis,” carried out with elementary math, does not involve any modeling or analysis of PV IV characteristics. Herein, this reverse analysis is described and how it can be used to quantify losses in PV–EC systems and the effect of mutual scaling of PV and EC devices is shown. This method is presented using a NiMo/NiFeOX catalyst pair as an example and was applied to a variety of PV–EC combinations described in the literature.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000726287900001
DO  - DOI:10.1002/solr.202100783
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/905134
ER  -