M.S. Srinivasan

Photoelectrochemical generation of Hydrogen – an engineer’s review

Large scale hydrogen production by electrolysis of water where the electricity is generated with minimal emission of CO2 is growing steadily in recent years. The Proton Exchange Membrane based electrolysers and the Alkaline Electrolysers are the Industry standards in terms of initial investment cost, operating cost and reliability. The Solid Oxide based Electrolysers that promise a lower energy consumption are also gaining acceptance.

Using solar energy directly to split water using suitable semiconductors has been an active area of research particularly over the last 15 years.

From an Industrial perspective, if such an approach could lead to some cost advantages over the conventional electrolysers in a few specific situations, that would be good motivation for industry involvement in the further development of this concept to higher levels of scale up and assessment. In this talk, I will be examining the issues involved from an engineer’s view point.