A holistic study on solar photovoltaic-based cleaner hydrogen production facilities: Economic and performance assessments

Abstract

This study presents a holistic technoeconomic analysis of solar photovoltaic-based green hydrogen production facilities, assessing hydrogen output potential and cost structures under various facility configurations. Four system cases are defined based on the inclusion of new photovoltaic (PV) panels and hydrogen storage (HS) subsystems, considering Southern Ontario solar data and a 30-year operational lifespan. Through a system level modeling, we incorporate the initial costs of sub-systems (PV panels, power conditioning devices, electrolyser, battery pack, and hydrogen storage), operating and maintenance expenses, and replacement costs to determine the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH). The results of this study indicate that including hydrogen storage significantly impacts optimal electrolyser sizing, creating a production bottleneck around 400 kW for a 1 MWp PV system (yielding approximately 590 tons H2 over a period of 30 years), whereas systems without storage achieve higher yields (about 1080 tons of H2) with larger electrolysers (approximately 620 kW). The lifetime cost analysis reveals that operating and maintenance cost constitutes the dominant expenditure (68-76 %). Including hydrogen storage increases the minimum LCOH and sharply penalizes electrolyser oversizing relative to storage capacity. For a 1 MWp base system, minimum LCOH ranged from approximately $3.50/kg (existing PV, no HS) to $6/kg (existing PV, with HS), $11-12/kg (new PV, no HS), and $22-25/kg (new PV, with HS). Leveraging existing PV infrastructure drastically reduces LCOH. Furthermore, significant economies of scale are observed with increasing PV facility capacity, potentially lowering LCOH below $2/kg at the 100 MWp scale. The study therefore underscores that there is a critical interplay between system configuration, component sizing, operating and maintenance management, and facility scale in determining the economic viability of solar hydrogen production.