Solar Hydrogen: Renewable Powered Electrolysis

There are two primary ways to generate solar hydrogen: hydrogen produced from solar energy. The first is via a photochemical process, using solar energy directly to split water. The second is solar powered electrolysis, which uses solar cells to generate electricity and power electrolysers.

While the photochemical process is appealing due to its direct hydrogen production, it must still undergo significant innovation to reach scalability. Solar powered electrolysis, on the other hand, uses already established technologies and can therefore more immediately be used to provide certain geographies with the opportunity to produce large amounts of green hydrogen.

A 2023 research paper analyzing the advancements and challenges in photovoltaic-based hydrogen production highlights key barriers such as safety, production, storage, utilization, commercialization, weather variability, and cooling of photovoltaic cells. The paper reports that the highest solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency achieved so far is 30%.

Generally, these 30% systems rely solely on electrical energy and suffer from low efficiency due to significant heat losses. One solution is hybrid photovoltaic-thermal systems which convert solar energy into both electricity and useable heat, improving process efficiencies up to 80%.

In both systems, excess energy can be stored as hydrogen and used at some point in the future instead of going to waste. Hybrid systems have the added bonus of producing heat that can be fed into electrolysis processes (which are more efficient at higher temperatures) – or used to heat buildings. Other methods such as photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen production via water splitting

Manilla Community Solar array – New South Wales

A $2.3 million grant was awarded in 2020 to a project in rural New South Wales for a 4.5 MW solar array and a 2 MW solar hydrogen storage system. The installation will also be one of the first commercial scale projects to use solid-state hydrogen storage in the form of sodium borohydride (NaBH₄). This “H2Store battery” technology was developed by the University of New South Wales and the cost is comparable to existing chemical battery storage technology.

First Solar & Nel Hydrogen

The American solar systems manufacturer First Solar partnered with Norway’s Nel Hydrogen to develop a power plant that produces solar-generated hydrogen and low-cost electricity. Initially, they used proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis systems but faced equipment challenges. The ball-type rotameters that Nel Hydrogen had traditionally used lacked the necessary precision, so they switched to Alicat mass flow meters to test their S, H, and C PEM electrolysers.

BP, Iberdrola, & Enagás

BP teamed up with Iberdrola and Enagás installed a photovoltaic powered, 20 MW electrolyser that will allow them to transition from grey hydrogen consumption to green.

Soto Solar España

Independent producer Soto Solar España plans to develop a 1 GW photovoltaic park with a 100 MW electrolyser by 2024.

Baofeng Energy

The Chinese coal mining company Baofeng Energy announced in 2021 plans for two 100 MW solar power generators to power electrolysis as part of their efforts to half CO₂ emissions by 2030. The project was finished approximately in December of 2021, and is claimed by Baofeng Energy to be the world’s largest solar hydrogen generation project.

Sinopec & Longi

The oil firm Sinopec had previously partnered with the solar technology manufacturer Longi to work on the company’s decarbonization efforts by developing green hydrogen production infrastructure back in 2021. In 2025, Sinopec announced a $690 million dollar hydrogen venture capital fund to invest in hydrogen energy startups.

H2B2

Starting in 2018, the California Energy Commission issued a solicitation to create renewable hydrogen generation facilities across the state. The SoHyCal project, presented by the hydrogen processing company H2B2, touts itself as the largest operational green hydrogen production plant in North America, powered entirely by renewable energy.

The global push towards decarbonization has triggered increasing investments in PV hydrogen projects, with many countries and corporations seeking to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and bring down the dollar cost per kW. Analysts predict that green hydrogen demand could rise dramatically by 2030, driven by heavy industry, transportation, and grid balancing needs. Major economies including the European Union, the United States, China, and Australia are rolling out policies, subsidies, and research funding to accelerate adoption. As technologies mature and costs continue to decline, solar hydrogen could transform not only the energy landscape but also create new market opportunities in renewable chemicals, synthetic fuels, and distributed energy storage.

Green Future

Using solar energy to power electrolysis offers an alternative pathway for sunny regions to produce energy sustainably. Green hydrogen production like this reduces dependence on fossil fuels and encourages innovation in solar and electrolysis technologies, helping to meet the energy needs of large populations. In the short term, individual projects and plants have a minimal impact on the overall energy market. However, by expanding the capacity for solar hydrogen generation, we can build a stronger foundation for a cleaner, more resilient energy system.