Synergizing Photo-Thermal H2 and Photovoltaics into a Concentrated Sunlight Use
Sanli Tang,
Xueli Xing,
Wei Yu,
Jie Sun,
Yimin Xuan,
Lu Wang,
Yangfan Xu,
Hui Hong,
Hongguang Jin
Affiliations
Sanli Tang
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; Solar Fuels Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto M5S 3H6, Canada
Xueli Xing
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Wei Yu
School of Environmental and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, Shanghai Polytechnic University, Shanghai 201209, China
Jie Sun
School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, China
Yimin Xuan
School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
Lu Wang
Solar Fuels Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto M5S 3H6, Canada
Yangfan Xu
Solar Fuels Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto M5S 3H6, Canada
Hui Hong
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; Corresponding author
Hongguang Jin
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Summary: Solar hydrogen and electricity are promising high energy-density renewable sources. Although photochemistry or photovoltaics are attractive routes, special challenge arises in sunlight conversion efficiency. To improve efficiency, various semiconductor materials have been proposed with selective sunlight absorption. Here, we reported a hybrid system synergizing photo-thermochemical hydrogen and photovoltaics, harvesting full-spectrum sunlight in a cascade manner. A simple suspension of Au-TiO2 in water/methanol serves as a spectrum selector, absorbing ultraviolet-visible and infrared energy for rapid photo-thermochemical hydrogen production. The transmitted visible and near-infrared energy fits the photovoltaic bandgap and retains the high efficiency of a commercial photovoltaic cell under different solar concentration values. The experimental design achieved an overall efficiency of 4.2% under 12 suns solar concentration. Furthermore, the results demonstrated a reduced energy loss in full-spectrum energy conversion into hydrogen and electricity. Such simple integration of photo-thermochemical hydrogen and photovoltaics would create a pathway toward cascading use of sunlight energy. : Electrochemical Energy Conversion; Energy Resources; Energy Materials Subject Areas: Electrochemical Energy Conversion, Energy Resources, Energy Materials
