Green Hydrogen Production Assessment via Integrated Photovoltaic–Electrolyzer Modeling Framework

This study examines the impact of photovoltaic (PV) modeling fidelity utilizing single-diode (SDM), double-diode (DDM), and triple-diode (TDM) representations on the precision of hydrogen production (H2P) estimates when integrated with various electrolyzer technologies, specifically proton exchange membrane (PEM), alkaline (AEL), and solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs). Precise evaluation of solar-powered green hydrogen (H2) systems necessitated a dependable estimate of PV power under authentic working circumstances. Hourly site-specific irradiance and ambient temperature (Ta) data for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were used to calculate PV power outputs, which were then sent to physically based electrolyzer models regulated by electrochemical voltage relationships and Faraday’s law. The findings indicate that while all PV models display the same seasonal patterns, SDM somewhat overestimates yearly PV energy in comparison to DDM and TDM, with relative errors around 0.03%. These discrepancies somewhat affect H2 yield estimations but do not change the relative ranking of electrolyzer technology. Among the assessed options, SOEC consistently produced the highest H2 output, generating approximately 21.8% more H2 than PEM and 9.1% more than AEL, with annual yields of 62.46–62.47 g for PEM, 69.70–69.71 g for AEL, and 76.04–76.05 g for SOEC across the SDM, DDM, and TDM frameworks under equivalent solar power inputs. The findings indicate that the selection of electrolyzer technology significantly impacts H2P more than the choice of a PV model, while high-fidelity PV modeling is crucial for a physically realistic and precise system-level assessment of integrated PV-H2 energy systems.