Review on Solar Hydrogen: Its Prospects and Limitations
Suman Dutta
Abstract
Clean and green energy has become very much desirable in recent times to mitigate the environmental problem associated with fossil fuels. Hydrogen can be utilized as sustainable energy resources whenever it is produced via green routes. Hydrogen production using solar energy is a pollution-free route as the carbon footprint is zero or significantly less than other hydrogen-generation methods. This review elucidates various hydrogen-generation routes using solar energy as the primary energy resource. Both thermal and photoassisted routes are incorporated in this review. It is found that solar photovoltaic cell associated with water electrolyzer is very popular. Biomass can also be converted to hydrogen through thermal and photoassisted processes. The economic analysis confirmed that hydrogen-fueled cars are economical as well as environmentally friendly.