Green Hydrogen from PV-Supplied Sono-Electrolysis: Modelling and Experimental Investigations of the Mechanism and Performance

Abstract

Water and energy are the two most essential assets for a sustainable global human society. However, the high carbon footprint and global warming effects caused by non-renewable sources have made energy transition a key element to ensure sustainable development. Currently, hydrogen produced from water supplied by renewable energy is considered an ideal and sustainable energy carrier for the future. Herein, we investigate experimentally and theoretically using MatLab modeling the production of hydrogen via PV supplied alkaline electrolysis of water coupled to 40 kHz ultrasonic bath. Nickel plates and nickel foam were used as electrode’s material immerged in 25% of KOH electrolyte while a 12V solar panel was used as a green source of power supply. The experimental and the modeling results related to the ultrasounds effect on hydrogen production efficiency showed a high agreement. The integration of ultrasound showed a reduction in electrode coverage by bubbles of approximately 54.8%, which was equivalent to 9.32% of the reduction in cell voltage according to the experiments.