An Economic Analysis of Small-Scale Standalone Photovoltaic System with Hydrogen Storage System

Abstract

This paper proposes design steps in obtaining the optimal size of a standalone photovoltaic (PV) system, which is able to meet a predetermined power load requirement. The keys of the system sizing are primarily to satisfy a specific load demand that depends on the power generated from the installed PV system and also to maintain hydrogen storage state of charge. A case study was conducted using Kuala Lumpur's meteorological data and a typical rural area load profile of 2.215 kWh. An economic analysis on the system was performed in order to determine system feasibility. The levelized cost of energy for the proposed system was RM1.98/kWh. However, the results showed that if the same configuration used absorbent glass mat (AGM) battery as the backup power supply, the system cost and levelized cost of energy is lower. Therefore, a sensitivity analysis of the electrolyzer and fuel cell efficiencies towards levelized cost of energy for the proposed system was executed. The result indicates that unless the efficiency of hydrogen storage technologies significantly increases in the future, the system will not be feasible to be implemented in Malaysia.