Can a solar power tower integrate with a thermochemical water splitting cycle?

An innovative integration of a solar power tower with a thermochemical water splitting cycle is presented. LiNaK carbonate salt is used for thermal energy storage. Comprehensive thermodynamic and economic analyses are conducted. A multi-objective optimization is performed using genetic algorithm.

Can a solar hydrogen production plant co-generation a kilowatt-scale pilot plant?

Solar hydrogen production devices have demonstrated promising performance at the lab scale, but there are few large-scale on-sun demonstrations. Here the authors present a thermally integrated kilowatt-scale pilot plant, tested under real-world conditions, for the co-generation of hydrogen and heat.

How does a solar reactor work?

The reactor system contains a concentrator triple-junction solar cell module, two 16-cell PEM electrolyser stacks and a small centrifugal pump that was used to recycle (re-circulate) water through the concentrated PV module (this stream is named ‘PV recycle’ from here on).

How a solar light concentrator works?

Solar light is concentrated by a dual-axis tracking parabolic dish concentrator to a solar reactor which comprises a shield, aperture with flux homogenizer and triple-junction III–V PV module, proton exchange membrane EC stack embedded in the reactor unit and water pump (to recycle over the PV).

How much hydrogen does a solar system produce?

As outlined in Supplementary Table 3, the maximal peak hydrogen production rate calculated over a 5 minute window was 14.0 Nl min −1 (1.26 g min −1), and during the complete campaign, more than 3.2 kg of solar hydrogen was produced. The system produces on average 10.6 kW th of thermal heat at an outlet temperature of 45.1 °C, as defined in Methods.

How much heat does a solar system produce?

The system produces on average 10.6 kW th of thermal heat at an outlet temperature of 45.1 °C, as defined in Methods. The peak thermal output (during a 5 min period) was 14.9 kW th, and a total 679 kWh th was produced during the 13 days operation.