High purity ammonia and photovoltaic cells

Can hybrid solar photovoltaic and green ammonia reduce the levelized cost of electricity?

CC-BY 4.0 . Hybrid solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind generation in combination with green ammonia as a seasonal energy storage vector offers an excellent opportunity to decrease the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). In this work, an analysis is performed to find the most cost-effective configuration of power-to-ammonia-to-power (P2A2P).

Can hybrid PV-wind power plants produce green ammonia?

This study investigates the global potential of green ammonia production from semi-flexible ammonia plants utilising a cost-optimised configuration of hybrid PV-wind power plants, as well as conversion and balancing technologies. The global weather data used is on an hourly time scale and 0.45° × 0.45° spatial resolution.

How efficient is solar to ammonia synthesis?

A solar to ammonia efficiency of 15.6 % is achieved, which is 4.6 % higher than the state-of-the-art efficiency of solar-driven electrochemical synthesis of ammonia. By analyzing the Sankey diagram, the energy loss of photovoltaic cells and the heat losses contribute more than 63 % of the total solar input.

Can solar power balancing a green ammonia system?

Nayak-Luke et al. modelled a green ammonia system based on fixed capacities of solar and wind power in Shetland, Scotland and sized other units accordingly. This study used fuel cells as the only power balancing technology.

Will solar power increase ammonia production in winter?

At low levels of solar in the grid, while adding more solar capacity, larger energy shortages will be present in the winter months as a result of the more cyclic behavior of solar energy compared to wind energy, and thus, a larger overall ammonia production is required to compensate for this change.

How does solar irradiation affect ammonia production?

As the solar irradiation intensity increased (at a constant flow rate of air), the efficiencies decreased, owing to low energy and exergy output despite high solar radiation influx. At N 2 and H 2 capacities of 10.58 mol/s and 2.35 mol/s, respectively, the ammonia production rate reached 12.9 mol/s.