Photovoltaic solar energy to produce hydrogen by electrolysis

Abstract

In photovoltaic solar installations, there are usually periods in which excess electricity is produced. In off-grid systems, this excess can be stored in batteries for later use during hours of low or no production. Some technical and environmental drawbacks mean that the use of batteries is not the best solution for energy storage. An alternative approach is to use surplus electricity to produce hydrogen by electrolysis of water to generate more electricity with fuel cells. In this work, an off-grid distributed generation system composed of solar panels, an electrolyzer, a hydrogen storage tank, and a fuel cell is analyzed. The load is the consumption of a typical household in the province of Buenos Aires. The results show that it is possible to cover the entire electricity demand, without the use of the electricity grid. In addition, no battery storage is used, and it is necessary to add a natural gas reformer to complement hydrogen production.