Efficient Solar Hydrogen Generation

Efficient Solar Hydrogen Generation

This research project investigates the fabrication and integration of low-cost semiconductors and earth-abundant catalysts to support the development of efficient, stable and cheap solar water splitting systems.

Lead participants: The Australian National University (ANU)	Classification: Research and development	Status: In progress	Estimated cost: AUD$4.40 million
Research partners: Shenzhen Kohodo Hydrogen Energy (China), University of New South Wales (UNSW)	Main supply chain category: Hydrogen production	Location: Australian Capital Territory, Australia	Announced funding: AUD$1.72 million – Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA)

Research description

This research project investigates the fabrication and integration of low-cost semiconductors and earth-abundant catalysts to address a key challenge for hydrogen production: the development of efficient, stable and cheap solar water splitting systems.

The research is led by ANU and is investigating how silicon and perovskite cells can be integrated into a tandem configuration to enable stand-alone solar hydrogen production. Catalysts made from transition metal composites with controlled chemical composition, crystallinity and morphology are being developed and integrated with either silicon photoelectrodes or three-dimensionally interconnected porous Ni foams to boost the electrocatalytic interactions for enhanced water-splitting performance.

Recently, an efficiency of over 17 per cent solar to hydrogen conversion has been achieved using a stand-alone system, as reported in RenewEconomy and published in Advanced Energy Materials.

More details on the research, including contact information, can be found at the ARENA webpage for this project.

This research project was part of a suite of projects for which ARENA announced AUD$22.1 million of funding in September 2018.

 

This description was reviewed by the lead research participant in July 2020.