Exergy and economic analysis of evacuated tube heat pipe solar collector and parabolic trough solar collectors based power, cooling and hydrogen production

Abstract

The presented study deals with the thermodynamic efficiency and economic analysis of solar collector supported power, hydrogen production and ejector cooling system from a holistic perspective. In the experimental study, two different integrated solar collectors were used for the thermal energy produced. Among the solar collectors used, ETHPSC was preferred for preheating. The thermal energy required for ORC and ejector cooling units is obtained from PTC. In the presented system, an alkaline water electrolyzer developed for hydrogen production is used. In the experimental study based on sustainable green hydrogen production, the energy and exergy efficiencies of the whole system are calculated as 12.25 % and 9.85 %, respectively. Moreover, the annual hydrogen production is calculated as 22.02 kg. In addition, the cost of unit hydrogen production is calculated as 2.075 $/kgH2, and the sustainability index is calculated as 1.109.