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The outdoor operation of an up scaled thermally photovoltaic electrolyzer PV EC , constructed using a heat exchanger HE made of low cost materials, compared to its nonintegrated counterpart to quantify heat transfer and its effects, is studied. Thermal coupling of the PV and EC can reduce the difference between their temperatures, benefitting device performance. Such devices can produce hydrogen at rooftop installations of small to medium sized nonindustrial buildings. The devices are tested outdoors using automated real time monitoring. Under amp; 8776;880 amp; 8201;W amp; 8201;m amp; 8722;2 peak irradiance, they produced hydrogen at amp; 8776;120 and amp; 8776;110 amp; 8201;mL amp; 8201;min amp; 8722;1 rate with and without HE, respectively, corresponding to about 8.5 and 7.8 solar to hydrogen efficiencies. During about 700 amp; 8201;h of testing, the HE is beneficial at over amp; 8776;500 amp; 8201;W amp; 8201;m amp; 8722;2 due to cyclic device operation. Under lower irradiance levels, pumping previously heated electrolyte through the HE increases the PV and reduces the electrolyte temperature, reducing the device performance. The HE increases the cumulative hydrogen production amp; 8776;800 amp; 8201;L from both devices , so even relatively modest heat transfer rates can improve the PV EC operation. Improving the HE should further increase the benefits, but additional measures may be needed to maximize the hydrogen production |
