Energy production and storage from a polygeneration system based on parabolic trough solar collector, proton exchange membrane fuel cell, organic Rankine cycle, and alkaline electrolyzer

Abstract Due to the limitations with fossil fuels consumption, it is necessary to pay more attention to clean energy sources such as solar energy. Using solar energy systems as a driven of hybrid systems and integrating with an energy storage technology can alleviate some of the problems. In the present paper, a novel solar driven-polygeneration energy system with electrical energy storage is introduced and investigated. The cycle power generation section is composed of parabolic trough collector field, proton-exchange membrane fuel cell, organic Rankine cycle, alkaline electrolyzer, and thermoelectric generator. The light energy of the sun is converted into thermal energy by the solar collector. This thermal energy prepares the necessary thermal duty of the organic Rankine cycle's evaporator. Then, the electricity generated by the organic Rankine cycle is used to electrify an electrolyzer. The oxygen and hydrogen obtained from electrolyzer are used to generate power and heat by the fuel cell. Then, the waste heat of the fuel cell goes to the hot end of the thermoelectric generator and electricity is generated. The electricity generated from the fuel cell, thermoelectric generator, and surplus of the organic Rankine cycle is stored via a hybrid storage system for times of need (at night, cloudy days and/ or peak consumption hours). Findings revealed that the proposed polygeneration cycle is capable of generating 22.5 kW of power. Furthermore, 140.8 kW of thermal power and 97.3 g/h of hydrogen fuel are generated by the solar collector field and electrolyzer, respectively. Moreover, sum exergy destruction, system efficiency, and net capacity of the storage system are 18.83 kW, 60.3%, and 89 m3, respectively. Three different scenarios are considered for the solar field design based on the determined collector numbers.