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.
