Techno-economic study of a solar-powered system augmented by heat recovery and integrated with green hydrogen storage for continuous power generation
摘要
The main challenge of renewable energy is its intermittent production, which can be addressed through appropriate energy storage and system integration. The paper presents a techno-economic study on continuous electricity generation using solar energy integrated with compressed green hydrogen storage through multiple combined technologies. The proposed system integrates concentrated photovoltaic/thermal collectors, an organic Rankine cycle (ORC), a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer (PEMEC), and a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) for electricity production and hydrogen-based energy storage. The electrolyzer, powered by daytime electricity, produces hydrogen and is compressed using multistage compression with intercooling, which is subsequently used to operate the fuel cells at night. Continuous electricity generation is further supported by utilizing the heat from the photovoltaic–thermal collectors and fuel cell subsystems to drive the ORC, converting waste heat into additional electrical energy. The system was modeled and simulated using MATLAB, and a comprehensive energy and economic analysis was conducted to evaluate the influence of key parameters. The system achieved a peak efficiency of 22.05% under solar irradiance of 1000 W m−2 with an ambient temperature of 40 °C, delivering 5.5 kW of electrical output, and producing hydrogen at 0.047 kg h−1. At this radiation level, the daytime ORC contributed 4.95 kW of electricity. The economic evaluation under varying operating conditions and interest rates showed a levelized cost of electricity ranging from 0.18 to 0.66 $ kWh−1, with payback periods of 6.5 to approximately 10 years.