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The use of hydrogen as a zero-emission fuel and energy storage medium has the potential to play an increasing role in the decarbonization of our energy and transportation infrastructures when produced using renewable energy resources. This work proposes a load-managing photovoltaic (PV) system for driving hydrogen production that eliminates the need for power electronics without sacrificing critical features like maximum power point tracking or voltage regulation. In the proposed system, each electrolyzer stack is operated independently, rather than operating all the stacks as a single unit, allowing the system to dynamically respond to changes in available PV power. This methodology was tested in simulation by analyzing the performance of two commercial electrolyzers, each coupled with a PV array. The proposed system was able to extract over 99.5% of the available energy from the PV array, outperforming the single-unit power electronics-based approach. The compounding benefits of reducing cost and improving energy yield provide a competitive solution for PV-driven hydrogen production.

The lightest element has carried a heavy burden for half a century. Expectations for the hydrogen economy, first proposed in the 1970s, have been high. But hydrogen as a renewable, low-carbon fuel for vehicles, heating, and energy storage has remained evasive, held back by high costs, low efficiency, and a lack of infrastructure and storage technologies.