Operational strategies for producing green hydrogen from photovoltaic power generation based on particle swarm optimization

Hydrogen, as a secondary clean energy source, provides a versatile and sustainable alternative energy source. Among various hydrogen production technologies, proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis is particularly suitable for intermittent operation and is an effective method to convert excessphotovoltaic (PV) power into storable hydrogen energy. The urgent need for sustainable energy solutions is met by exploring operational strategies to produce green hydrogen from PV power. This integration not only provides a viable solution to the problem of large-scale solar energy wastage, but also improves the efficiency and flexibility of the energy conversion process. In this study, an integrated model of the PV cell and the PEM electrolyzer is developed using Simulink/MATLAB. Various environmental conditions, such as temperature and solar irradiance that affect the performance of the PV cells and the electrochemical behavior of the PEM electrolyzer are considered, emphasizing the direct coupling between the PV system and the PEM electrolysis technology, and proposing a method based on the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm to optimize this coupling. A particle swarm optimization (PSO)-based algorithm is proposed to optimize this coupling, which ultimately realizes the dynamic adjustment of the series-parallel connection of the PEM electrolyzer to ensure the optimal energy transfer and hydrogen production efficiency.