Solar-powered hydrogen: exploring production, storage, and energy integration strategies

This review explores the advancements in solar technologies, encompassing production methods, storage systems, and their integration with renewable energy solutions. It examines the primary hydrogen production approaches, including thermochemical, photochemical, and biological methods. Thermochemical methods, though highly efficient, require advanced materials and complex reactor designs, while photochemical methods offer a simpler alternative but suffer from low conversion efficiencies. Biological hydrogen production presents a low-cost option but faces limitations in scalability and production rates. The review also highlights innovative hydrogen storage technologies, such as metal hydrides, metal-organic frameworks, and liquid organic hydrogen carriers, which address the intermittency of solar energy and offer scalable storage solutions. Additionally, the potential of hybrid energy systems that integrate solar hydrogen with photovoltaics, thermal energy systems, battery storage, and smart grids is emphasized. Despite technical and economic barriers, ongoing advancements in catalyst development, material optimization, and artificial intelligence-driven energy management systems are accelerating the adoption of solar hydrogen technologies. These innovations position solar hydrogen as a pivotal solution for achieving a sustainable and low-carbon energy future.