Efficiency and consistency enhancement for alkaline electrolyzers driven by renewable energy sources

Abstract

Low-cost alkaline water electrolysis from renewable energy sources (RESs) is suitable for large-scale hydrogen production. However, fluctuating RESs lead to poor performance of alkaline water electrolyzers (AWEs) at low loads. Here we explore two urgent performance issues: inefficiency and inconsistency. Through detailed operation process analysis of AWEs and the established equivalent electrical model, we reveal the mechanisms of inefficiency and inconsistency of low-load AWEs are related to the physical structure and electrical characteristics. Furthermore, we propose a multi-mode self-optimization electrolysis converting strategy to improve the efficiency and consistency of AWEs. In particular, compared to a conventional dc power supply, we demonstrate using a lab-scale and large-scale commercially available AWE that the maximum efficiency can be doubled while the operation range of the electrolyzer can be extended from 30–100% to 10–100% of rated load. Our method can be easily generalized and can facilitate hydrogen production from RESs.