L R AS Published on Sunday 6 September 2020 - n° 330 - Categories:R&D
Research is being carried out on hydrogen electrolysers activated by renewable energy sources.
Since the beginning of 2017, the German research institute Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) has been testing several configurations for the production of hydrogen using solar energy. It is looking for the best combination of electrolysis with photovoltaics. This is the European PECSYS project.
The researchers found that each approach or option provided
different advantages.
A pilot plant was set up with full-size, heterojunction silicon panels and CIGS panels connected to polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolysers. The installation generated an average of 42.9 grams/hour of hydrogen. The average solar energy yield reaches 10% during one month of continuous outdoor operation.
A second experiment was carried out at the heterojunction solar panel plant of the Italian company Enel. It is also a partner in the project in Catania, in the south of Italy. Bifaciality represents an innovative solution for increasing the efficiency of hydrogen production without increasing the cost. A 13.5% efficiency of hydrogen solar energy has been achieved, with a hydrogen production rate of 0.307 g/h at a solar irradiation of 1,000 W/m², at an ambient temperature of 25°C. This is an increase of 14% compared to a single-facial operation".
Further research is being carried out
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/09/02/different-combinations-of-pv-powered-electrolysers/
PV Magazine of 2 September
Editor's note This document is the best indication that the world is not ready to produce hydrogen. We are still looking for the best ways to get it. Thus the fifty or so projects mentioned (50viable green hydrogen projectsare being developed around the world) do not know the right way to obtain this gas. So there will be many project promoters who make the wrong choice and who will lose their investment! Others will fumble around to find the right process.
If we were perfidious (unless we are realistic), it would seem that it is not necessary to have the right technological process, but only to obtain subsidies. The money taken will always be used for something else.
This justifies our reluctance to develop hydrogen production for a period of ten years.
