A comprehensive review of solar-driven multigeneration systems with hydrogen production

摘要

The integration of solar energy systems is crucial to achieving the global goals for sus-tainability as well as the reduction of greenhouse gases and pollutants emissions. In this direction, the development of multigeneration systems is very important as they can cover the increasing and numerous demands of modern society in a high-efficient way. In par-allel, hydrogen is a promising alternative fuel that has gained attention recently because it can substitute conventional energy sources. So, the objective of the present work is the review, classification, discussion, and comparison of solar-driven multigeneration systems that include hydrogen production. This study is a novel one because it is focused on the integration of hydrogen generation methods into polygeneration systems, while existing publications present the useful outputs of the units, without specialization. In parallel, it meets the increasing need for the investigation of hydrogen energy potential. Apart from hydrogen, other common useful outputs are electricity, heating, cooling, domestic hot water, and freshwater. In this work, the plants are classified according to the hydrogen production method. In parallel, different types of solar devices, such as thermal collectors, photovoltaics, and thermal photovoltaics as well as other additional energy sources are also examined. So, numerous configurations are investigated comprehensively, which can produce a plethora of useful outputs, as well as include thermodynamic cycles, such as Rankine cycles, organic Rankine cycles, and other devices, such as absorption chillers, or desalination units. All the units are evaluated and compared in terms of energy, and exergy performance as well as economic viability, and hydrogen production rate. In general, solar tower-based and parabolic trough collector-based units are high-efficient energetically and exergetically, while concentrating photovoltaic thermal plants achieve high energy effi-ciency. Finally, suggestions for future research and development are made. (c) 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.