A study on solar hydrogen generation with PEM

A simulation for solar hydrogen generation through one year was carried out on the base of the experimental data of solar hydrogen generation with PEM cell and our measured data of solar radiation, with taking the matching between the number of solar battery panels and the number of PEM sheets, and the conversion efficiency of solar energy to hydrogen expected for one year was estimated. In the experiment, solar battery panels of polycrystalline silicon type and an electrolysis cell of one PEM sheet were used. The effective area of PEM sheet is 50 cm/sup 2/. The specific electric resistance of pure water is about 2.5 M /spl Omega/ - cm. The conversion efficiency of the solar battery is about 12%, and the optimum voltage and current are about 21 V and 4.5 A at the global radiation of about 900 W/m/sup 2/. The effective area of solar panel is 0.843 m/sup 2//panel. The anticipated conversion efficiencies of solar battery and PEM cell for one year are about 12% and about 72%, respectively.