CSM 1032 710021783

Buffering electrical output of a PV panel with water electrolysis & PEM fuel cell

Introduction

Electrolyser Avg Voltage Avg Current Braking Braking Power (W) Volume of H2 Volume of H2
(V) (mA) Voltage (V) Current collected in collected in
(mA) 300s (cm3) 300s (moles)
My results 1.70 451 2.05 169 0.767 1.76 x 10-2 7.85 x 10-4
(braking →
0.346)
Class avg 1.80 193 2.01 163 0.347 9.046 x 10-3 3.77 x 10-4
(braking →
0.328)
Hydrogen can be produced through the electrolysis of water, using electricity to split water into the
constituent elements of oxygen and hydrogen, of which hydrogen is then stored for later use in
heating and electricity. This experiment involved the electrical output of two PV panels to power a
water electrolysis cell. This produces hydrogen which is then converted into electricity in the fuel
cell. The diagrams below present both the electrolysis of the water (left) and the fuel cell, when the
motor is turned on (right) using 2 multi-meters in each to record voltage and current. This lab report
considers the individual and combined efficiencies of the electrolyser, fuel cell and PV panels to
determine the overall potential of energy storage for hydrogen.

Fuel cell Avg Voltage Avg Current Power Volume of H2 used Volume of H2 used in
(V) (mA) (mW) in 1500s (cm3) 1500s (moles)
My results 0.798 11.0 8.778 3.518 × 10-3 1.466 × 10-4
Class avg 0.794 12.0 9.528 4.724 × 10-3 1.968 × 10-4

PEM Fuel
Cell
Calculations
Area calculated for two PV panels = 6.498 ×10−3 m2 (measured) Cross-
−4 2
sectional area of H2 tank = 5 .026 × 10 m (measured) Power of
light source using pyranometer = 10 59 Wm-2 (measured) Gibbs free
energy of H2 gas = 237.6 ×10 3 Jmol-1

PV panels efficiency
Power on PV Panels=Power of light source × Areaof two PV panels
Pin = 1059 ×6.498 ×10−3 = 6.88 4 W

Power ¿ PV panels∈300 s of collecting hydrogen=voltage × current Pout =

−3
2.01 ×1 63 ×10 = 0.3276 W (using braking voltage/current)
0.3276
Efficiency ƞ of PV panels = Pout / Pin × 100 = × 100 = 4.759 %
6.884
Efficiency of Electrolyser
Pin = I × V = 1.8 ×193 ×10−3 = 0.3474 W (avg voltage/current)
3
Moles of hydrogen collected ∈300 s=volume of H 2∈cm /24 Moles of H2 =
−3
9.046 ×10 −4
=3.769× 10 moles
24

( 3.769 ×10−4 ) ×(237.6× 103 )

Ptheoretical consumed in 300s = =0.2985 W
300
0.2985
Efficiency ƞ of electrolyser = Ptheoretical / Pin × 100 = ×100 = 85.92%
0.3474
Efficiency of fuel cell
P = I × V = 0.794 × 12× 10−3 = 9.528 × 10-3 W
3
Moles of hydrogen used up∈1500 s=volume of H 2 ∈cm / 24
−3
4.724 × 10 −4
Moles of H2 = =1.96 8 ×10 moles
24

( 1.968 ×10−4 ) ×(237.6× 103 ) −3

Ptheoretical generated in 1500s = =3.117×10 W
1500
−3
3.117× 10
Efficiency ƞ of fuel cell = Ptheoretical / P × 100 = −3
×100 = 32.71%
9.528 ×10
Discussion

According to the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, any transfer of energy causes a loss of useful energy to
the surroundongs, often as heat. It states that entropy is always increasing, and the more energy
transfers in a process, the less efficient the whole system will be. This experiment involves multiple
changes of energy stores between stages which lead to a loss of useful energy, therefore resulting in
a lower efficiency of the whole system. Firstly, the PV panels convert light energy into electrical
energy, which is supplied to the electrolyser to produce hydrogen. Within this process, the electrical
energy is converted into chemical energy stored in the hydrogen. When the motor is turned on, the
fuel cell transfers chemical energy back into electricity which can be used in a variety of ways. Ideally
each of these energy transfers does not lose a large amount of energy to the surroundings to
maximise efficiency of the system.

In my calculations, I assessed the efficiencies of each process in the system. The PV panels have a
significantly low efficiency of 4.759% when compared to the usual 15-22% efficiency of solar panels
in the UK. A proportion of this difference could be due to the small size of the cells in contrast to
larger cells that are widely manufactured, with a smaller area for energy conversion there is possibly
a reduced efficiency. The material that these panels are made from can affect the efficiencies, for
example monocrystalline and polycrystalline silicon solar cells have different efficiencies, as
polycrystalline cells are less efficient due to the lower purity in material meaning it also takes more
panels to generate the same amount of electricity as monocrystalline cells. Temperature plays a
large role within solar panels and their efficiencies, as cells have a tolerance which when exceeded,
the efficiency decreases considerably. The next energy conversion that takes place is in the
electrolysation of the water. I determined the power consumed during 300 seconds of collecting the
hydrogen, and consequently the efficiency of the PEM electrolyser. I calculated this as 85.92%
efficient, which is substantially greater than the PV panels. This would make sense since there are
less factors affecting the conversion process and the equipment is less reliant on specific conditions
than PV panels are. Finally, when converting this stored chemical energy back to electrical energy, I
found the fuel cell efficiency to be 32.71%. When compared to large scale industrial fuel cell plants,
this efficiency is quite low. In line with the U.S department of energy, PEM fuel cells have an
electrical efficiency of 60% from direct hydrogen. The overall system efficiency when combined is
found by multiplying each efficiency from the energy transfers. This will be (0.3271 × 0.8592 ×
0.04759) × 100 = 1.337%. The errors between our efficiencies from the experiment and those of
industrial cells could be attributable to differences in equipment, lower accuracy of measurements
or random errors within the experiment.

Regardless of the extremely high inefficiency proven in this experiment, hydrogen fuel cells powered
by renewable energy still hold great potential in terms of future energy use and storage. The lowest
efficiency was in the PV panels, however solar is just one renewable energy source which can
generate electricity, and our experiment highly suggests that other resources could be beneficial to
reduce the amount of useful energy lost to the surroundings. The high Gibbs free energy of
hydrogen explains why it can store a larger quantity of energy than other storage forms. The way
that hydrogen can be stored in this experiment can be applied to an industrial scale, to create a
spinning reserve for the national grid. This could be extremely important in order to overcome the
problem of intermittency that occurs from many renewable sources such as the sun, wind, and tidal.
When these sources cannot meet energy demands, hydrogen can be a source of energy using grid
integration and when energy demand falls, it is easily turned off once again to avoid overloading the
grid. With these things in mind, current problems of the application of renewable energy within the
UK National Grid can potentially be solved using technology demonstrated in this fuel cell
experiment.

In current times, the main source of hydrogen is natural gas, which credits three quarters of the
global annual hydrogen production of 70 tonnes in accordance with IEA. Natural gas is harmful to
the environment, unsustainable and contributes to global warming. However this source also states
that although 0.1% of this 70 tonnes is produced by the use of water electrolysis, there is a growing
interest as cost of renewable electricity decreases. There is hope that as hydrogen becomes more
cost-effective, it will become more suitable in energy storage systems. As for the utilisation of
hydrogen within power generation today, it has one of the largest prospects in terms of energy
storage, and with regards to transportation, fuel cell cars heavily rely on cost and the fuel economy,
and as a result the future of them is unpredictable at the moment. There is definitely potential
within multiple industries to start introducing more hydrogen fuel cells as they become increasingly
more efficient.

Conclusion

I think hydrogen holds the most potential for future sustainable energy storage. Although this
particular experiment used PV cells, there are other abundant renewable energy sources which
could produce electricity for the electrolysis of water. It is a reliable way of storing energy which can
eliminate issues of intermittency and demand using the grid as it is easily turned on and off when we
need more/less energy and gives a constant output of power. Fuel cells hold promising prospects in
terms of transportation and power generation of the future and has proven successful already. The
class average results from the experiment which I used in my calculations show that to improve the
system, a different renewable source would benefit the overall efficiency as the PV cells had a very
low efficiency in comparison to the other two energy transfer processes. Industrial needs must be
met by the power output from these fuel cells before use in the grid, at the current efficiency this is
difficult without more highly invested in power plants of these types. To summarise this report,
using PEM fuel cells following the electrolysis of water to store hydrogen for energy is a successful
system, which with development and improved efficiencies of energy conversions could reach the
industrial level of energy storage.

References

‘Fuel Cells’ (2015). U.S Department of Energy. Available at:

https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/11/f27/fcto_fuel_cells_fact_sheet.pdf.

IEA (2019) The Future of Hydrogen. Available at: https://www.iea.org/reports/the-future-of-

hydrogen.

Muhammad, F. et al. (2017) ‘Low Efficiency of the Photovoltaic Cells: Causes and Impacts’, ISSN
2229-5518, 8(11). Available at: https://www.ijser.org/researchpaper/Low-Efficiency-of-the-
Photovoltaic-Cells-Causes-and-Impacts.pdf.

Vourvoulias, A. (2021) ‘How Efficient Solar Panels Are in the UK?’, 8 September. Available at:
https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/2014/11/how-efficient-are-solar-panels.