MATLAB Simscape Model of an Alkaline Electrolyser and Its Simulation with a Directly Coupled PV Module

Abstract

This paper discusses a MATLAB/Simulink/Simscape power system implementation of an alkaline electrolyser directly coupled to a photovoltaic module. Meteorological average daily irradiance and temperature data for a typical summer and winter day in Auckland, New Zealand, is used in a 15-hour simulation duration to show characteristic responses of the system. In addition to the steady state output, boundary conditions are applied to the referenced mathematical models to include the transient performance, governed by the photovoltaic module internal parameters. The simulation results show that the steady state output of the proposed implementation matches the general response of similar systems reported in previous published papers. Overall electrolyser efficiency of 68.48% for summer and 63.32% for winter is in accordance with results from the referenced studies.