Volume 62

PV-BESS-Electrolyzer Hybrid System: Dispatching Optimization with Experimental Validation Chunyang Zhao, Marius Persson Noe, Shi You, Chresten Træholt

Abstract

The increasing penetration of Power-to-X (PtX) assets introduces new challenges in power system operation, especially when integrating intermittent renewable energy sources. This paper presents the development, integration, and experimental validation of a kW-scale hybrid PV-Battery-Electrolyzer platform at DTU. A rule-based energy management system (EMS) was implemented to coordinate power flows between the photovoltaic (PV) source, lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS), and anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzer. Component-level testing quantified key performance constraints, including ramp-rate limits, temperature sensitivity, and system-level round-trip efficiency. The data-driven model for asset performance validated against experimental data was further applied for sensitivity analyses of system sizing and control strategies. Results from hybrid operation show that the BESS buffering significantly improves hydrogen yield with 14.6% and 77.7% under different fluctuating solar profiles and significantly reduces the start-stop cycle from 10–34 times to 3 times per day, which has a great impact on electrolyzer lifetime. The findings highlight critical trade-offs between curtailment, system stress, and hydrogen productivity in such hybrid applications.

Keywords Hybrid energy systems, anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzer, energy management system (EMS), hydrogen production