Modeling of photovoltaic-PEM hydrogen production system and comparative performance analysis of different coupling methods

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2097-0706.2024.09.005

Abstract

Abstract:

Hydrogen production by photovoltaic-coupled electrolyzers is the main way to produce hydrogen， but outputs of photovoltaic cells vary with fluctuations of solar radiation，which will lead to intermittent power generation. In order to improve the utilization of solar energy as well as the stability of the photovoltaic hydrogen production system， an indirectly coupled hydrogen production system consisting of a photovoltaic cell and a proton exchange membrane （PEM）electrolyzer is established. The system consists of photovoltaic cells， a PEM electrolyzer， a maximum power point tracking （MPPT） controller， a DC-DC converter and a battery. The system regulates the electrical energy generated by PV cells by controlling the battery which stores excess power when the intensity of solar radiation is high and drives the electrolyzer when the PV cells cannot generate sufficient power. The effectiveness of the system is verified by a simulation test. The energy efficiencies and hydrogen production rates of PV hydrogen production systems using different coupling methods are compared. The results show that， among all the coupled systems proposed， the comprehensive efficiency of the indirect coupled system is the highest， and its hydrogen production rate does not change with the intensity of solar radiation. The optimized coupled system has the highest hydrogen production rate， but its electrolysis efficiency decreases with the increase of solar radiation intensity. The direct-coupled system has a quite low comprehensive efficiency and hydrogen production rate due to the mismatch between the PV cell and electrolyzer sizes.

Key words: photovoltaic system, PEM electrolyzer, system efficiency, energy storage, hydrogen production

CLC Number:

TK91

HU Kaiyong, ZHAO Peiyu, WANG Zhiming. Modeling of photovoltaic-PEM hydrogen production system and comparative performance analysis of different coupling methods[J]. Integrated Intelligent Energy, 2024, 46(9): 37-44.

Figures/Tables 10

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参数	数值
活性面积/cm²	50
电解槽工作温度/℃	70
阴极交换电流密度/(A·cm^-2)	1
阳极交换电流密度/(A·cm^-2)	1×10^-4