Technical study of a PV/Battery System for

Hydrogen production and storage

Mahmoud EL Amri
Laboratory of Automation, Electrical
Systems and Environment (LASEE)
University of Monastir,Department of
Electrical Engineering, National
School of Engineers
Monastir, Tunisia
National Engineering School of Sousse,
University of Sousse
Sousse, Tunisia
mahmoudelamri@gmail.com
Chokri Ben Salah
Laboratory of Automation, Electrical
Systems and Environment (LASEE)
University of Monastir,Department of
Electrical Engineering, National
School of Engineers
Monastir, Tunisia
Issat of Sousse, University of Sousse
Sousse, Tunisia
chokribs@yahoo.fr

Abstract— In this paper, a hydrogen production system

model based on photovoltaics as the main source of power
and hybrid storage system consisting of a battery as a
short-term power storage and H2 tank as a long-term
storage facility is studied. A complete simulation model is
created in Matlab-Simulink through the analysis of the
component model. Numerical results simulations are
provided. The operation of the combination of
photovoltaic array and electrolysis is verified at different
insulation levels. Notably, the solar array and electrolyzer
produced the expected results with varying solar energy
input.
 ARCHITECTURE OF THE SOLAR ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM
We investigate in this paper how the components of a
standalone micro grid system with two different energy
storages, battery storage [1] [5] and hydrogen storage, should
be sized to work optimally together. The idea is to generate
power using renewable energy [14] [15] from solar arrays.
Surplus solar electricity can either be stored in battery storage
or sent to an electrolyzer in order to perform a chemical
reaction where H2 gas is produced and then stored in a
hydrogen storage [10]. The H2 gas is later used in a fuel cell
to generate electricity.

Keywords—Photovoltaic, Electrolyzer, Tank, Battery,

Hydrogen, Storage System, Modelling, Simulink

 INTRODUCTION
As a type of renewable and clean resource, photovoltaic
energy has attracted attention in the recent years because of
the massive costs of energy and the negative environmental
impacts of conventional fossil fuels.
Nevertheless, considering solar energy is dependent on
climatic conditions, its output cannot always totally supply
the load power need. [3]
This problem can be solved by exchanging energy with the
power grid. All the same, for the Stand-Alone solar system,
some energy storage devices [4] need to be combined to the Fig. 1. Solar-Energy Storage System
system in order to provide energy on-demand. These devices The model presented in Fig. 1.shows a Stand Alone solar
must store the excess PV energy of electricity demand and system that provides energy to an electrolyzer using a solar
then meet the excess electricity demand of PV energy [11]
arrays and an energy storage system. We can use this model
[13]. The lead-acid battery type is the best device energy to estimate the characteristics of producing of H2 [4] over a
storage today. MPPT controls have been proposed to extract seven days’ period by power from a combination of a PV
the maximum power from a microgrid system. [8] In this generator and an energy storage system. The model comprises
paper, a hydrogen production and storage system PV-battery-
electrical, thermal gas domains, and thermal liquid. [12,14]
Electrolyzer has been established and described by giving the
modeling of each component. Some studies of solar power  MODELING OF SYSTEM COMPONENTS
system with storage have been reported in literature
[7,12,16].The paper is structured as followed: Section II A. Photovoltaic generator model
introduces the architecture of the entire energy system, The solar energy is transferred into electrical power in the
Section III describes components of the model. Section IV, photovoltaic panel through a fundamental physical process.
presents and interprets simulation results. The conclusions The solar energy system used in this study is mainly
are finally addressed in Section V. composed of a photovoltaic panels and a DC-DC boost
converter. The photovoltaic cell's mathematical model is
based on the photocurrent, diode, series resistance, and shunt
resistance, as illustrated in Figure 2.[1]
Rsh Ipv

Id
Ish
D
Iph Vsh Vpv
Fig. 3. The Simulink diagram of Solar Photovoltaic Panels
Rsh
B. Battery storage system modeling
The battery employed in this study is shown in Fig.4 and may
be modeled using the equation following:
Fig. 2. Photovoltaic cell model.

The following equation can be used to represent a 𝑉𝑏𝑎𝑡 (𝑡) = 𝐸1 − 𝑅𝑏𝑎𝑡 𝐼𝑏𝑎𝑡 (𝑡) (6)
photovoltaic panel PV that has Np parallel modules, each of
which is constituted of Ns serial-connected PV cells: When the battery is charged, the current through it, Ibat, is
positive; when it is discharged, it is negative. The battery
voltage should decrease gradually and linearly in the
Vpv I pv Rs N pV pv
q(  ) (  I pv Rs ) beginning phases of the discharge and fast at the end, when
Ns Np Ns (1)
I pv  N p I ph  N p I sat (exp( )  1)  ( ) the battery is practically empty, according to the voltage
KTA Rsh
model. When recharging, the voltage rises linearly in the
beginning and then gradually increases in speed as the charge
The saturation current Is is defined as follow in the Eq.(2) nears its conclusion. The following equation can be used to
3 calculate the required battery capacity 𝐶𝑏𝑎𝑡 bat in amp-hours
𝑇 𝑞𝐸 1 1
𝐼𝑠 = 𝐼𝑟𝑠 (𝑇 ) 𝑒𝑥𝑝 [ 𝑔 ( − 𝑇)] (2) (Ah):
𝑟𝑒𝑓 𝐾𝑞𝐴 𝑇 𝑟𝑒𝑓

The cell reverse saturation current Irs is defined by the Eq.

𝐸 𝐷𝑎𝑢𝑡
(3) 𝐶𝑏𝑎𝑡 = 𝐷𝑂𝐷𝐷 (7)
𝐼𝑠𝑐 𝑚𝑎𝑥 ᶯ𝑏𝑎𝑡
𝐼𝑟𝑠 = 𝑞𝑉𝑜𝑐 (3)
[𝑒𝑥𝑝( )−1]
𝐾𝑇𝐴
Where ED is the electricity usage per day (Wh), Daut
The photo-current Iph is expressed by the Eq. (4)
𝐸
represents the number of days of autonomy, DODmax is depth
𝐼𝑝ℎ = [𝐼𝑝ℎ + 𝑘𝑖 (𝑇 − 𝑇𝑟𝑒𝑓 )] (4) of discharge (Maximum DOD for the deep-discharge battery
𝐸𝑟𝑒𝑓
is 80%.) and ηbat is the energy efficiency of the battery.
The power generated by the PV Panel essentially depends on
solar irradiance and the temperature as follows in the The battery state of charge (SOC) can be described as the
equation (5) [1]: level of charge relative to its capacity can be defined using
the following equation: [2]:
 I s (t )
 Ppv (t )  Ppv rated I 1   ( A  Tref ) 
(5)   PLoad (t ) 
 s  ref
 SOC (t  1)(1   )  ( Ppv (t )  PWT (t ))  
   inv  Bat
 A  (T  (0.0256  I s )) 
(8)
 if ( Ppv (t )  PWT (t )) PLoad (t )
Where Ppv (t) is the output power, PR represents the rated SOC (t )  
 SOC (t  1)(1   )   PLoad (t )  ( P (t )  P (t ))  
power; IS is the solar radiation, Is-ref is the solar radiation under    Bat
 inv
pv WT

 
reference conditions (1000 W/m2), Tref is the temperature

 f ( P (t )  P (t )) P (t )
under reference conditions (25 ◦C), δ represent the pv WT Load

temperature coefficient (−3.7×10-3 (1/°C)) and T is the

ambient temperature. With:
 ρ: hourly self-discharge rate
This solar array is driven by a time-series irradiance input  ηinv: inverter efficiency
defined over a 24hr period. An average value Buck/boost  PLoad: load power demand
converter DC-DC is driven by a MPPT algorithm [9] to
ensure that the maximum available power from the solar array The battery charge status must operate according to the
is supplied to the electrolyzer. following constraints:
SOCmin (t )  SOC (t )  SOCmax (t ) (9) C. Boost converter
In the hydrogen production energy system proposed the
 SOCmax  CBat VBat electrical energy generated by the PV panels is controlled by
 (10)
SOCmin  CBat VBat  (1  DODmax ) a buck boost converter. The voltage control is employed just
when the load power is lower than the maximum power
produced by the photovoltaic generator considering panels
Where SOCmax is the maximum state of charge and SOCmin is temperature and the incident irradiance.
the minimum state of charge. [6] The mathematical boost converter model is based on diode, a
semiconductor switch, and shunt resistance and one energy
At any instant, t, the battery efficiency ηBat (t) is defined by
storage component as illustrated in Fig. 6. [9]
the equation (11) [2]:
During the modulation period T, the boost converter control
a ( soc(t )  1) is performed.
 Bat (t )  1  exp( ) (11)
I Bat (t ) 𝑇 = 𝑇𝑂𝑁 + 𝑇𝑂𝐹𝐹 (14)
b Where:
I10
TON: The opening time, TOFF: The closing time.
in which a, b, and I10 are parameters defined by the battery's 𝑇
α: The duty time, defined by: 𝛼 = 𝑂𝑁 𝑇
(15)
operational conditions. L io
ii iL D
The charging current Inapt (t) is defined by eq. (12):
iC1 iC2
PLoad (t )
( Ppv (t )  PWT (t ))  Vi
inv C1 K C2 Vo
I Bat (t )  (12)
VBat
The battery power is calculated with eq. (13)
Fig. 6. Electrical circuit equivalent for DC-DC Boost converter
PLoad (t )
PBat (t )  ( Ppv (t )  PWT (t ))  (13)
There are two modes of operation for boost converters:
inv
 First mode: K=1, D=0
Rbat Ibat (t) 𝑑𝑉𝑖 (𝑡)
𝑖𝐶1 (𝑡) = 𝐶1 = 𝑖𝑖 (𝑡) − 𝑖𝐿 (𝑡)
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑉𝑂(𝑡)
𝑖𝐶2 (𝑡) = 𝐶2 𝑑𝑡 = −𝑖𝑂 (𝑡) (16)
E1 𝑑𝑖𝐿 (𝑡)
Vbat(t) { 𝑉𝐿 (𝑡) = 𝐿 = −𝑉𝑖 (𝑡)
𝑑𝑡
 Second mode: K=0, D=1

Fig. 4. Battery model. 𝑑𝑉𝑖 (𝑡)

𝑖𝐶1 (𝑡) = 𝐶1 = 𝑖𝑖 (𝑡) − 𝑖𝐿 (𝑡)
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑉𝑂(𝑡)
𝑖𝐶2 (𝑡) = 𝐿 𝑑𝑡
= 𝑖𝐿 (𝑡) − 𝑖𝑂 (𝑡) (17)
The previous battery model equations have been translated 𝑑𝑖𝐿(𝑡)
into the Simulink diagram shown in Fig. 5. { 𝑉𝐿 (𝑡) = 𝐿 𝑑𝑡
= 𝑉𝑖 (𝑡) − 𝑉𝑂 (𝑡)

By applying the following relationship to (16) and (17)

𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
⟨ ⟩𝑇 = 𝛼𝑇 + 𝑑𝑡 (1 − 𝛼)𝑇 (18)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡𝛼𝑇 (1−𝛼)𝑇

Finally, we obtain the boost's equivalent equation system.:

𝑑𝑉 (𝑡)
𝑖𝐿 = 𝑖𝑖 − 𝐶1 𝑑𝑡𝑖
𝑑𝑉𝑖 (𝑡)
𝑖𝑂 = (1 − 𝛼)𝑖𝐿 − 𝐶2 𝑑𝑡
(19)
𝑑𝑖𝐿 (𝑡)
{ 𝑉𝑖 = 𝐿 + (1 − 𝛼)𝑉𝑂
𝑑𝑡

D. Block of MPPT control

Fig. 5. The Simulink diagram of the Battery
The main role of maximum power point trackers (MPPTs)
is to extract energy from photovoltaic generators (PVG) as
they draw maximum available power independently of
continuous temperature changes of irradiation conditions.
The MPPT control is divided into two phases. The first
examines the maximum value of power produced by the PV
panel, and the second calculates the appropriate duty cycle α
to manage the DC-DC boost converter.
E. Electrolyzer modeling
The electrolyzer is composed of a water tank that might be
continually supplied as required. Water temperature is
controlled by diverted current through a thermal resistor. The
produced hydrogen is recovered and stored in a tank modeled
as a gas chamber at a constant temperature for storage.
The electrolyzer hydrogen production model is modelled as a
direct current load. The more the input current, the higher the
hydrogen is produced.

The electrolyzer's electrical efficiency can be calculated

using the equation (20):
Elz  I V (20) Fig. 7. The Simulink diagram of the PEM electrolyzer model

The current efficiency at 313.15 Kelvin is given by the  SEMULATION RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
following equation:
Each component of the hydrogen production and storage
0.09 75.5
 I  9.65  exp(  ) (21) system is simulated independently in the MATLAB/Simulink
I Elz I 2 Elz environment so that errors can be simply controlled and
simulation blocks may be debugged. Each system block has
We set the current efficiency ηI =100% To minimize the been developed and verified to ensure that the simulation can
complexity of analyzing the system. progress and that the results are correct. The modules for the
water electrolysis, hydrogen tank, battery, DC-DC buck
The working voltage of electrolyzer defined in the equation converter, and photovoltaic solar panels have been developed
(22) by Ref. [3] and are perfectly compatible between each other. The
simulation can be used to represent various scenarios.
H 285.84(kj.mol ( 1) ) Figure 8 shows the overall system Simulink diagram.
VH     1.48(V ) (22)
2 F 2  96487 Some of the model key inputs are listed in the table below:
With ∆H is Higher heating value value of H2 TABLE I. SYSTEM COMPONENTS PARAMETERS
The electrolyzer's voltage efficiency is represented by the eq. PV panel
(23) [5] Number of solar cells in series 70

Short circuit current Isc (A) 3.8

1.48
V  100% (23) Open circuit voltage Voc (V) 0.586
VElz Max power (W) 150
Electrolyzer
In this work, the voltage efficiency is 74%.Therefore, the
working voltage VElez is equal to (1.48/0.74). Rated power (Kw) 200

Number of cells 50
The amount of hydrogen generated by the electrolyzer during
Number of Electrodes pairs 3
one hour may be determined following:
Resistance (Ω) 0.25
I Elz  N Elz
H   I  3600 (24) Heat Resistance (Ω) 25
2
2 F
Battery
The electrolyzer's power is determined by with eq. (25)
Nominal Capacity (A h) 50000
PElz  I Elz VElz  N Elz (25) Voltage (V) 240

Internal Resistance ( ohm) 0.2

As a consequence, we can determine the flow rate of hydrogen
produced an electrolyzer of rated power of 200 Kw as follows: Hydrogen Storage Tank
Volume (m3 ) 1
I  N Elz PElz
 H 2  Elz  I  3600  1 3600 Storage Tank Temperature (k) 273.15
2 F VElz  2  96487
Initial state of charge (soc) 0%

200 1000  3600 Minimum limit of soc (H2 SOC MIN) 30 %

  1865.53(mol / h)
2  2  96487 Maximum limit of soc (H2 SOC MAX) 95%

According to (24) and (25), the PEM electrolyzer model is

developed using Simulink-matlab, which is shown in Fig. 7.
 The graph shows that the shape of the current curve of the
electrolyser is remarkably similar to that of the current
generated by the solar panels where the difference between the
input current and the one of water electrolysis is explained by
the charging of the battery.

Fig. 8. The Simulink diagram of H2 production and storage energy system

The solar irradiation data utilized in this paper was obtained

from the database 8760 TMY3 from The National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL), which contains not only solar
irradiance but also wind speed and temperature, which are all
essential for renewable energy research.
The hourly solar radiation data is shown in Figs. 9

Fig. 11. Battery state of Charge [%]

When the power provided by the PV system is unable to

supply the hydrogen electrolyzer, the energy stored in the
battery is sent into the electrolyzer. Figure 11 displays the
battery's state of charge (SOC) during operation of the
electrolyzer; the battery discharges gradually with a
decreasing linear curve, indicating the demand for energy by
the load, which in this case is the electrolyzer.

Fig. 9 Annual solar radiation

The graphs below show respectively the electrolyzer's

current, the solar and storage system's current, the battery's
state of charge, and the hydrogen produced.
The current curves from the simulation of a PV generator,
battery, and electrolyzer are shown in Fig. 10.

Fig. 12. Produced Hydrogen

The flow rate of H2 produced is constantly increasing due to

the continuous supply of DC voltage to the electrolyzer.
Figure 12 shows a significant correlation between producing
hydrogen and global solar radiation intensity. As global sun
radiation increases with time, so does hydrogen production.
 CONCLUSION
The main goal of this work was to propose a validated hybrid
energy system model developed in Simulink-Matlab that can
Fig. 10. Current I (A)
be used to size future similar energy systems that employ
hydrogen in combination with a battery as a sort of short-term
energy storage. A technical study for a hydrogen solar
production and storage system has been established in this
paper. The solar panels have been verified in order to capture
the available sunlight and the hydrogen electrolyzer is used
to consume the power produced by the photovoltaic
generator. With Photovoltaic energy system, a DC/DC buck
converter was implemented to control and keep the current
values that supplied the electrolyzer and a MPPT algorithm
control was used to obtain the maximum power. As an energy
storage device a lead-acid battery was utilized. The system
components were modelled in MATLAB-Simulink and the
model's results are validated by the tests. Under variable and
irradiance adjustments, the solar energy storage system
performs excellently.
The tested model aids in improved sizing of PV panels,
battery energy storage and electrolyzer for the Stand Alone
solar systems.
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