Solar Energy Conversion Technology for Producing Fuels and Chemicals

1 Solar Energy Conversion Technology for Producing Fuels and Chemicals 

Heterogeneous Catalysis at Nanoscale for Energy Applications, First Edition. Edited by Franklin (Feng) Tao, William F. Schneider, and Prashant V. KamaL 2015 John Wiley Sons, Inc. Published 2015 by John Wiley Sons, Inc. 

The photocatalytic system for overall water splitting employs water as the reactant. The reactor contains water and photocatalysts as powders. It does not require 

FIGURE 11.1 (a) Irradiance and photon number of AM 1.5G as a function of wavelength and (b) theoretical integrated STH efficiency as a function of wavelength to the respective wavelength for QEs of 30 and 100%. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [2]. U.S. Department of Energy. 

Solar cell materials, which have been commercialized in some countries, remain expensive, as stated in the DOE report [14]. This is a significant disadvantage for 

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