The attribute of solid state hydrogen storage materials that is most commonly the focus of evaluations is reversible hydrogen weight percent. Other material characteristics, including density, charging pressure, enthalpy and conductivity can influence the weight of storage system components and hence the overall hydrogen weight percent that is ultimately of interest. However, accounting for these effects involves some level of storage system representation that typically is not undertaken when making material assessments and comparisons.

The current paper will present a simple model that represents system elements and trade-offs on a high level so that overall system performance can be estimated without the burden of detailed design studies. The model should be useful to evaluate novel materials in a more complete manner for a better assessment of their potential when implemented in a storage system. While the model has been derived based on the design of a particular NaAlH4 system, the key attributes are sufficiently general to be applicable to a range of system designs. Using this approach, the properties of materials can be related more precisely to goals for overall system performance with modest additional effort.