PV-electrolysis System Research Articles

Optimum Band Gap Energy of ((Ag),Cu)(InGa)Se2 Materials for Combination with NiMo–NiO Catalysts for Thermally Integrated Solar-Driven Water Splitting Applications

Solar-driven water splitting is considered one of the promising future routes to generate fuel in a sustainable way. A carbon-free solar fuel, molecular hydrogen, can here be produced along two different but intimately related routes, photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting or photovoltaic electrolysis (PV-electrolysis), where the latter builds on well-established solar cell and electrolysis materials with high efficiency. The PV-electrolysis approach is also possible to construct from an integrated PEC/PV-system avoiding dc–dc converters and enabling heat exchange between the PV and electrolyzer part, to a conventionally wired PV-electrolysis system. In either case, the operating voltage at a certain current needs to be matched with the catalyst system in the electrolysis part. Here, we investigate ((Ag),Cu)(In,Ga)Se2 ((A)CIGS)-materials with varying Ga-content modules for combination with NiMo–NiO catalysts in alkaline water splitting. The use of (A)CIGS is attractive because of the low cost-to-performance ratio and the possibility to optimize the performance of the system by tuning the band gap of (A)CIGS in contrast to Si technology. The band gap tuning is possible by changing the Ga/(Ga + In) ratio. Optoelectronic properties of the (A)CIGS materials with Ga/(Ga + In) ratios between 0.23 and 0.47 and the voltage and power output from the resulting water splitting modules are reported. Electrolysis is quantified at temperatures between 25 and 60 °C, an interval obtainable by varying the thermal heat exchange form a 1-sun illuminated PV module and an electrolyte system. The band gaps of the (A)CIGS thin films were between 1.08 to 1.25 eV and the three-cell module power conversion efficiencies (PCE) ranged from 16.44% with 1.08 eV band gap and 19.04% with 1.17 eV band gap. The highest solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency was 13.33% for the (A)CIGS–NiMo–NiO system with 17.97% module efficiency and electrolysis at 60 °C compared to a STH efficiency of 12.98% at 25 °C. The increase in STH efficiency with increasing temperature was more notable for lower band gaps as these are closer to the overpotential threshold for performing efficient solar-driven catalysis, while only a modest improvement can be obtained by utilizing thermal exchange for a band gap matched PV-catalysts system. The results show that usage of cost-effective and stable thin film PV materials and earth abundant catalysts can provide STH efficiencies beyond 13% even with PV modules with modest efficiency.

Design and Implementation of High Voltage Photovoltaic Electrolysis System for Solar Fuel Production from CO2

ABSTRACTGrowing interest in the use of CO2 as a feedstock for fuel generation has led to increased interest in solar CO2 electrolysis for renewable fuel generation which has a variety of applications ranging from providing renewable sources for energy-dense carbon fuels, to curbing high-density emissions from power plants, industries and automobiles. The challenges of integrated solar-to-carbon fuel converters, where the photovoltaic (PV) material is immersed in the electrolyte, are well-known: the need for unique PV cell designs; material incompatibility; corrosion; and optical losses. In this paper, a PV-electrolysis system is presented, where a flow-cell electrolyzer is power-matched to a high-performance solar PV module array which has two system design advantages: 1) use of standard PV cells external to the electrolyzer, which allows de-coupling the design, fabrication and operation of the PV system from that of the electrolyzer; and 2) enabling optimization of the PV configuration to maximize power coupling efficiency to the specific electrolyzer Tafel curve, with or without the use of electronic power-conditioning devices. The implemented system resulted in a peak SFE of 6.5%, a competitive solar-to-fuel efficiency (SFE) figure to those reported in literature.

Optimised hydrogen production by a photovoltaic-electrolysis system DC/DC converter and water flow controller

In this article, we present a new way for hydrogen production by adapting the electrolysis to a renewable source of energy such as photovoltaic (PV) to generate the maximum quantity of hydrogen. A complete modeling of the PV-electrolysis system is developed in Matlab/Simulink environment. Simulation results show firstly that the use of a DC/DC buck-converter having an MPPT control allows a better adaptation between the PV generator and electrolysis. It's also show that the control of water flow injected in the electrolysis gave the optimal hydrogen production. These two controls (MPPT and water flow) lead to optimal performances of the photovoltaic-electrolysis system and therefore a maximum hydrogen production.

Techno-economic optimisation of hydrogen production by PV – electrolysis: “RenHydrogen” simulation program

The work concerns the optimisation of hydrogen production by electrolysis using renewable energy resources. To achieve this aim, the techno-economic analysis was dedicated to a system composed of PV panels and an electrolyser, including all associated technology such as the chopper circuit 1 1 DC/DC converter using electronic circuitry to convert one DC voltage (e.g. PV module voltage) to another (e.g. load voltage). . The first step was to complete a LabVIEW simulation program which was able to reproduce a photovoltaic (PV) plant connected to the alkaline electrolyser. The virtual instrument was developed on the basis of the models of incident radiation, PV cells and electrolyser. After the indication of PV cell type and number, tilt of all panels, number of strings 2 2 A number of modules interconnected electrically in series to produce the operating voltage required by the load. , latitude and main characteristics of the electrolyser (e.g. nominal power, number of electrolytic cells, working temperature and pressure), the program computes the hydrogen produced, the electrolyser running hours and other data, for a chosen period of the year. Differently tilted photovoltaic panels were considered either directly coupled with the electrolyser or connected via a DC converter between the two systems. The simulation program, called “RenHydrogen”, provides a qualitative calculation of the hydrogen production during the whole year, comparing different technological options and leading to the techno-economic optimisation of the PV-electrolysis system.

Predicting efficiency of solar powered hydrogen generation using photovoltaic-electrolysis devices

Hydrogen fuel for fuel cell vehicles can be produced by using solar electric energy from photovoltaic (PV) modules for the electrolysis of water without emitting carbon dioxide or requiring fossil fuels. In the past, this renewable means of hydrogen production has suffered from low efficiency (2–6%), which increased the area of the PV array required and therefore, the cost of generating hydrogen. A comprehensive mathematical model was developed that can predict the efficiency of a PV-electrolyzer combination based on operating parameters including voltage, current, temperature, and gas output pressure. This model has been used to design optimized PV-electrolyzer systems with maximum solar energy to hydrogen efficiency. In this research, the electrical efficiency of the PV-electrolysis system was increased by matching the maximum power output and voltage of the photovoltaics to the operating voltage of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer, and optimizing the effects of electrolyzer operating current, and temperature. The operating temperature of the PV modules was also an important factor studied in this research to increase efficiency. The optimized PV-electrolysis system increased the hydrogen generation efficiency to 12.4% for a solar powered PV-PEM electrolyzer that could supply enough hydrogen to operate a fuel cell vehicle.

Optimization of solar powered hydrogen production using photovoltaic electrolysis devices

Hydrogen fuel for fuel cell vehicles can be produced by using solar electric energy from photovoltaic (PV) modules for the electrolysis of water without emitting carbon dioxide or requiring fossil fuels. In the past, this renewable means of hydrogen production has suffered from low efficiency (2–6%), which increased the area of the PV array required and therefore, the cost of generating hydrogen. In this research, the efficiency of the PV-electrolysis system was optimized by matching the voltage and maximum power output of the photovoltaics to the operating voltage of proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers. The optimization process increased the hydrogen generation efficiency to 12% for a solar powered PV-PEM electrolyzer that could supply enough hydrogen to operate a fuel cell vehicle.

Control of battery backed photovoltaic hydrogen production

A battery backed photovoltaic (PV) hydrogen production system shows several advantages over non-battery systems, especially in cases in which the PV array is not totally dedicated to hydrogen production. The use of battery state-of-charge (SOC) and time of the day limits as control parameters to optimize hydrogen production in a battery backed PV-electrolysis system may increase the annual H2 production by more than 10%. Through shunt resistor regulation of the electrolyzer current, a high system efficiency may be maintained even if the power of the PV array well exceeds that of the electrolyzer.