A life-cycle analysis of a 5MW solar-powered electrolysis plant found HyWaves’ DC-native H2Top architecture produced green hydrogen at the lowest cost while cutting upfront capital, by removing power conversion stages.
Green hydrogen made with solar power can be produced at a lower cost by wiring the solar array almost directly to the electrolyser, according to a life-cycle analysis reported by Fuel Cells Works. The study compared three power architectures for a 5MW solar-powered alkaline electrolysis plant and found that Irish firm HyWaves’ H2Top design gave the lowest hydrogen production cost while also lowering upfront capital.
Solar panels generate direct current, and electrolysers run on direct current. Conventional plants convert the electricity between direct and alternating current several times before it reaches the stack, and lose energy at each step. H2Top uses a DC-native layout that moves power straight from the panels to the electrolyser. That removes much of the power electronics found in standard AC-coupled systems.
The change lowers the levelised cost of hydrogen, the standard measure of what a kilogram costs to make over a plant’s life. It also trims the capital bill by cutting inverters and related hardware. Both numbers matter for heavy industry, where hydrogen competes with natural gas and coal as a source of process heat and chemical feedstock.
Cost remains the main barrier to using green hydrogen in steel, cement, refining and ammonia. Producers need a delivered price low enough to displace fossil fuels without a large subsidy. Cutting conversion losses and hardware at the plant gate is one of several routes the sector is testing, alongside cheaper electrolysers and lower-cost renewable power.
HyWaves, based in Ireland, was founded in 2022 by Ugo Manfredi, Niall Haughian and Thomas Delaney to attack the cost of green hydrogen. Manfredi, a theoretical physicist, drew on four decades in solar to test how photovoltaic technology could bring the price down.
The figures come from the company’s own modelling rather than an independently audited plant, so industrial buyers will want field data at commercial scale before reading the results across to their own sites. If the savings hold in operation, DC-native designs could improve the economics of on-site solar hydrogen for factories seeking lower-carbon process heat.
