Optimization of Photovoltaic Electrolyzer Hybrid systems; taking into account the effect of climate conditions

In this paper, the impact of climate conditions on the optimal size and operating conditions of a direct coupled photovoltaic-electrolyzer system has been studied. For this purpose, the optimal size of electrolyzer for six cities which have different climate condition is obtained by considering two solution scenarios, regarding two objectives which are annual energy transfer loss and levelized costs of hydrogen production and then the optimal results for these cities are compared. The results show that the climate condition can strongly affect the size of the electrolyzer, the annual hydrogen production and consequently, both the levelized costs of hydrogen production and annual energy transfer loss. Moreover, it is found out that the solar to hydrogen efficiency of the optimal systems regarding these cities are different based on the solution scenarios, the characteristics of PV output power and the configuration of optimal electrolyzer configuration and placement.