Regional techno-economic assessment of integrated pv-powered electricity, hydrogen, and freshwater production systems in Afghanistan

This study presents a province-level techno-economic and environmental assessment of integrated PV-based electricity, hydrogen, and freshwater production systems across 34 Afghan provinces. Mono-Si, poly-Si, and CdTe thin-film PV technologies were evaluated using NREL meteorological data for direct electricity supply, electrolysis-based hydrogen production, and RO desalination. Avoided CO₂ emissions were estimated from annual PV electricity generation using a grid emission factor, while LCOE, LCOH, and LCOW were calculated for economic evaluation. In Kandahar, mono-Si achieved the best performance, producing 19849.8 kWh/year, 428.23 kg/year of hydrogen, and 3969.96 m3/year of freshwater, with LCOE, LCOH, and LCOW of 0.0767 $/kWh, 5.70 $/kg, and 0.843 $/m3, respectively. Nationally, CdTe thin-film PV achieved the highest PR in most hot provinces. Across Afghanistan, LCOE, LCOH, and LCOW ranged from 0.0667−0.1003 $/kWh, 4.96−7.46 $/kg, and 0.734−1.104 $/m3, respectively, confirming the need for province-specific PV selection.