Photovoltaic-Stand-Alone Hydrogen System
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Date
2008-04
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European Journal of Scientific Research
Abstract
A photovoltaic system consists of an array, a storage medium and elements for
power conditioning. Many photovoltaic systems operate in a stand-alone mode and the total
energy demand is met by the output of the photovoltaic array. The output of the
photovoltaic system fluctuates and is unpredictable for many applications making some
forms of energy storage or backup system necessary. The role of storage medium is to store
the excess energy produced by the photovoltaic array, to absorb momentary power peaks
and to supply energy during sunless periods or during night. One of the storage modes is
the use of electrochemical techniques, with batteries and water electrolysis as the most
important examples. In this paper, we report the optimal design for a stand-alone hydrogen
system with the volume of hydrogen produced against current as regards the concentration
of electrolysis cell. Operating characteristics of a small capacity solar hydrogen system
have been determined and also demonstrated that the I-V characteristics of the batteryphotovoltaic
module and electrolysis cell are influenced by variations in the concentration
of the electrolysis cell, which in turn determines the amount of current that flows through
it. A 50W photovoltaic panel rated as 17.4V, 2.87A yielded a maximum volume of about
8.6ml per minute for 1.0M cell concentration. Numerical simulation was used to compare
the experimental results and also the possibility of increasing the cost-effective yield of
hydrogen.
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This article is published by European Journal of Scientific Researchi 2008 and is also available at http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr.htm
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European Journal of Scientific Research ISSN 1450-216X Vol.20 No.2 (2008), pp.384-396 © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2008