Thermal integration and high-temperatures in photo-electrochemical devices
Sophia Haussener a
a Laboratory of Renewable Energy Sciences and Engineering, EPFL, Station 9, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Proceedings of MATSUS Fall 2026 Conference (MATSUSFall26)
E2 Solar fuels and chemicals: from devices to discoveries in unconventional environments
Palma, Spain, 2026 October 26th - 30th
Organizers: Franky Esteban Bedoya Lora, Katharina Brinkert and Anna Hankin
Invited Speaker, Sophia Haussener, presentation 392
Publication date: 22nd July 2026

Solar radiation is the most abundant renewable energy source but it is distributed and intermittent, thereby necessitating its storage via conversion to a fuel or chemical commodity for practical use. Solar thermochemical and photoelectro-chemical approaches (and combinations thereof) provide viable, non-biological routes for the direct synthesis of solar fuels and chemical commodities. I will review the state of the art of the technical solar fuel processing approaches [1]. Given the economic and sustainability advantage of utilizing concentrated radiation in photoelectrochemistry, a focus will lie on discussing the challenges associated with the utilization of concentrated solar irradiation and the provided opportunities by thermal integration [2]. Detailed multi-scale and multi-physics models and demonstrations will be used to support the development of general design guidelines on the materials and reactor scale. I will specifically discuss the advantages to integrate high-temperature heat and thermochemistry into photo-electrochemical devices [3]. I will end by highlighting engineering challenges to integrated high-temperatures into photo-electrochemical devices.

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