REVIEW article
Front. Energy Res.
Sec. Hydrogen Storage and Production
Integration of Concentrated Solar Power with Solid Oxide Electrolysis for Green Hydrogen Production: A Comprehensive Review
Provisionally accepted
Abdullah Ayed Alrwili1,2
Khalifa Aliyu Ibrahim1,3
Qing Qin1
Fergus Crawley1Ahmed Ali Aldubayyana1,4Thomas Delaney1Yousef Lafi A Alshammari1,2Mohammed Aqeel Albadrani4
Zhenhua Luo1*- 1Cranfield University, Cranfield, United Kingdom
- 2Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia
- 3Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria
- 4Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia
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Abstract The integration of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Solid Oxide Electrolysis (SOE) holds great promise for efficient and sustainable green hydrogen production. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies reviewing the combined potential of these two technologies, which could offer enhanced efficiencies and reduced costs for large-scale hydrogen production. This review addresses that gap by analyzing the technical and economic feasibility of integrating CSP with SOE systems. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of the integration between CSP and SOE systems for green hydrogen production. The study examines critical technical challenges, including high operating temperatures, material compatibility, and heat transfer efficiency, while evaluating the economic feasibility of these integrated systems. Different CSP configurations are analysed based on their ability to provide heat alone or both heat and electricity, with thermal energy storage identified as a key factor in enhancing system performance by mitigating intermittency issues. Methodologies used in integration studies, such as simulation models and experimental setups, are critically reviewed, highlighting gaps in practical designs and real-world applications of CSP-SOE systems. However, despite these promising advances, only one laboratory-scale prototype has been demonstrated to date, underscoring the urgent need for pilot-scale CSP–SOE field testing under real direct normal irradiation (DNI) and thermal energy storage (TES) conditions. By addressing these technical and economic obstacles, this review offers insights into optimising CSP-SOE systems for sustainable, large-scale hydrogen production and provides actionable recommendations for future development.
Keywords: Green hydrogen systems, Solid Oxide Electrolysis (SOE), Concentrated solar power (CSP), Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOEC), CSP-SOE integrated system design
Received: 03 Sep 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Alrwili, Ibrahim, Qin, Crawley, Aldubayyana, Delaney, Alshammari, Albadrani and Luo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhenhua Luo, z.luo@cranfield.ac.uk
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.