INVESTIGATION OF HYDROGEN PRODUCTION BY USING CONCENTRATED PHOTOVOLTAIC/THERMAL HYBRID COLLECTOR WITH SPECTRAL BEAM SPLITTING

Hydrogen (H₂) is an element with high heating value. In addition, it is energy efficient and does not harm the environment as it only releases water and a small amount of NO_x when burned with air. However, although hydrogen is an abundant element on earth, hydrogen is not found in nature alone as a gas. H₂ can be obtained by using primary energy sources and renewable energy sources. Using renewable energy sources to produce hydrogen is of great importance for a faster transition to a sustainable-clean environment. Solar energy is the richest renewable energy source in the world. Hydrogen can be produced with different technologies from solar energy. The most practical and widely used method among these technologies is the electrolysis of water. However, the efficiency in conventional Photovoltaic (PV)-electrolysis systems is quite low.

In this study, hydrogen production potential was investigated with a concentrated photovoltaic/thermal (SBS-CPV/T) hybrid collector with spectral beam splitter is also used instead of conventional PV-electrolysis.

As a result of the study, the optical efficiency of the SBS-CPV/T collector was found to be 81.28%. While the average temperature of the multi-junction solar cell was found to be 82˚C under 765X concentration, it was concluded that it provided 32.39% electrical efficiency at this temperature. The total hydrogen conversion efficiency of the SBS-CPV/T hybrid collector was calculated as 33.3%. Based on these findings, it has been seen that high temperature hydrogen production with SBS-CPV/T collector is a promising solution.