4E assessment of all-day clean electricity generation systems based on green hydrogen integrated system using PV and PVT solar collectors and wind turbines

Green hydrogen production powered by renewable energy sources is critical to the global transition to sustainable energy and net-zero emissions economies. The current study explores the multifaceted potential of green hydrogen as a key player in creating a sustainable and carbon-neutral energy landscape for electricity production under five different renewable-based configurations. This study aims to provide a complete assessment (energy, exergy, economic, and enviroeconomic) of all-day clean electricity generation systems containing integrated green hydrogen systems, comprising Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) water electrolyzers and fuel cells and using several different clean power sources, such as Photovoltaic (PV) and Photovoltaic/Thermal (PVT) solar collectors and Wind Turbines (WT). The main studied system configurations include: i) PV-Electrolyzer-Fuel cell, ii) PVT-Electrolyzer-Fuel cell, iii) WT-Electrolyzer-Fuel cell, iv) hybrid (PV + WT and PVT + WT)-Electrolyzer-Fuel cell. A MATLAB/Simulink code has been built to simulate these systems under the climatic conditions of two solar and wind-dominant locations in Egypt. The results revealed that the required amount of electricity to produce hydrogen ranges from 56.17 kWh/kg_H2 to 56.87 kWh/kg_H2. The total energy and exergy efficiencies are up to 35% and 17%, respectively. Moreover, the minimum values of LCOE, LCOH, and LCOE_FC are 0.028 $/kWh, 2.84 $/kg, and 0.253 $/kWh. Finally, the total amount of carbon dioxide mitigation is calculated.