Hydrogen at the rooftop: Compact CPV-hydrogen system to convert sunlight to hydrogen

•Compact but low cost CPV system for urban and rooftop operation.•Hybrid solar tracking system with 0.1° accuracy solar tracking sensor.•Outdoor testing efficiency of 28% for CPV and 18% for CPV-hydrogen systems.•Hydrogen production rating of 217 kWhe/kgH2 with 15% STH long term efficiency. Despite...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied thermal engineering 2018-03, Vol.132, p.154-164
Main Authors: Burhan, Muhammad, Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil, Ng, Kim Choon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Collimation
Concentrated photovoltaic
CPV
Efficiency
Energy efficiency
Energy sources
Energy storage
Hybrid systems
Hydrogen
Hydrogen production
Hydrogen storage
Photovoltaic cells
Potential energy
Power plants
Roofing
Solar cell
Solar cells
Solar energy
Solar to hydrogen
Sunlight
Tracking
Tropical environments
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Summary:•Compact but low cost CPV system for urban and rooftop operation.•Hybrid solar tracking system with 0.1° accuracy solar tracking sensor.•Outdoor testing efficiency of 28% for CPV and 18% for CPV-hydrogen systems.•Hydrogen production rating of 217 kWhe/kgH2 with 15% STH long term efficiency. Despite being highest potential energy source, solar intermittency and low power density make it difficult for solar energy to compete with the conventional power plants. Highly efficient concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) system provides best technology to be paired with the electrolytic hydrogen production, as a sustainable energy source with long term energy storage. However, the conventional gigantic design of CPV system limits its market and application to the open desert fields without any rooftop installation scope, unlike conventional PV. This makes CPV less popular among solar energy customers. This paper discusses the development of compact CPV-Hydrogen system for the rooftop application in the urban region. The in-house built compact CPV system works with hybrid solar tracking of 0.1° accuracy, ensured through proposed double lens collimator based solar tracking sensor. With PEM based electrolyser, the compact CPV-hydrogen system showed 28% CPV efficiency and 18% sunlight to hydrogen (STH) efficiency, for rooftop operation in tropical region of Singapore. For plant designers, the solar to hydrogen production rating of 217 kWhe/kgH2 has been presented with 15% STH daily average efficiency, recorded from the long term field operation of the system.
ISSN:1359-4311
1873-5606
DOI:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.12.094