Work

Green hydrogen production in photoelectrochemical artificial-leaf systems with different tandem solar cells: An environmental and economic assessment of industrial-scale production in China

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Different photoelectrochemical (PEC) artificial-leaf systems have been proposed for green hydrogen production. However, their sustainability is not well understood in comparison to conventional hydrogen technologies. To fill this gap, this study estimates cradle-to-grave life cycle environmental impacts and costs of PEC hydrogen production in different provinces in China using diverse tandem solar cells: Ge/GaAs/GaInP (Ge-PEC), GaAs/GaInAs/GaInP (GaAs-PEC) and perovskite/silicon (P-PEC). These systems are benchmarked against conventional hydrogen production technologies −coal gasification (CG) and steam methane reforming (SMR) − across 18 environmental categories, life cycle costs and levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH). P-PEC emerges as the best options, with 36–95 % lower impacts than Ge-PEC and GaAs-PEC across the categories, including the climate change impact (0.38–0.52 t CO 2 eq./t H 2 ) which is 77–79 % lower. Economically, P-PEC shows 81–84 % lower LCOH (2.51–3.81 k$/t). Compared to SMR and CG, P-PEC reduces the impacts by 23–98 %, saving 3.67–38.5 Mt of CO 2 eq./yr. While its LCOH is 5 % higher than that of conventional hydrogen, it could be economically competitive with both SMR and CG at 10 % higher solar-to-hydrogen efficiency and 25 % lower operating costs. In contrast, Ge-PEC and GaAs-PEC, while achieving much lower (81–91 %) climate change and some other impacts than the conventional technologies, face significant economic challenges. Their LCOH (21.51–32.82 k$/t for Ge-PEC and 16.96–25.89 k$/t for GaAs-PEC) is 7–9 times higher than that of the conventional hydrogen due to the high solar cell costs. Therefore, despite their environmental benefits, these technologies require substantial cost reductions to become economically viable.

Source: Energy Conversion and Management

DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2025.120274

Authors: Xiaoyu Huang, Harish K. Jeswani, Adisa Azapagic

Institution: University of Manchester

Language: English

Topic: Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems

Subfield: Energy Engineering and Power Technology

Field: Energy

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Affordable and clean energy, Climate action, Responsible consumption and production, Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,600