Performance assessment of solar-driven electrolytic hydrogen production systems enhanced by CdTe PV and sun-tracking device

Mingyuan Wang, Jinzhi Zhou, Jie Ji, Jian Song and Wenhui Ji

Applied Energy, 2025, vol. 390, issue C, No S0306261925005823

Abstract: The operating stability and energy efficiency of solar photovoltaic (PV) driven proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers for hydrogen production is related to their working conditions. However, the solar irradiation shows a large-scale fluctuation as the variation of daytime and seasons, which is unfavorable to solar PV-PEM systems. To solve the above problem, this paper presents a novel Cadmium telluride (CdTe) PV coupled PEM electrolyzer with a tracking device for improving PV power and system operating stability. A numerical model is developed in MATLAB/Simulink and verified with experimental data. The effects of solar irradiation, ambient temperature, PEM electrolyzer cathode pressure and operating temperature, and PV rotation angle on the system performance are investigated. The numerical results show that the electrical efficiency of CdTe PV fluctuates between 13.87 % and 14.05 %, and the solar to hydrogen (STH) efficiency fluctuates between 8.66 % and 9.45 % under different irradiation conditions. The increase of ambient temperature and cathode pressure decreases the STH efficiency, but the increase of operating temperature in electrolyzer is beneficial for the STH efficiency. In addition, the rotation angle of the tracking device has a significant effect on hydrogen production. For a typical day with solar irradiation varying between 540 and 892 W/m2, when the PV rotatition angle is maintained at 70 (maximum), and total hydrogen production is 17.56 % higher than the fixed PV system for the whole day. The system proposed in this study can strongly support the development of solar-driven electrolytic hydrogen production technology and has significant advantages in areas with low solar irradiation.

Keywords: Tracking device; CdTe PV; Irradiation fluctuation; PEM electrolyzer; Effect factor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.125852

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