A versatile open-source analysis of the limiting efficiency of photo electrochemical water-splitting

Understanding the fundamental thermodynamic limits of photo-electrochemical (PEC) water splitting is of great scientific and practical importance. In this work, a ‘detailed balance’ type model of solar quantum energy converters and non-linear circuit analysis is used to calculate the thermodynamic limiting efficiency of various configurations of PEC design. This model is released as freely accessible open-source (GNU GPL v3) code written in MATLAB with a graphical user interface (GUI). The capabilities of the model are demonstrated by simulating selected permutations of PEC design and results are validated against previous literature. This tool will enable solar fuel researchers to easily compare experimental results to theoretical limits to assess its realised performance using the GUI. Furthermore, the code itself is intended to be extendable and so can be modified to include non-ideal losses such as the over-potential required or complex optical phenomena.