Researchers from the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany and LUT University in Finland investigated if seasonal hydrogen storage (SHS) could be a practical way to increase solar self-consumption in the future.

A “least-cost” methodology was used to undertake a global analysis spanning 145 regions from 2020 through 2050 in five-year increments. They used the programme LUT-Prosume to model a home rooftop PV system using SHS. Cost estimations for SHS system components were included in the analysis in great detail. A water electrolyzer, hydrogen compressor, storage tank, and fuel cell were among the SHS’s components.

In eight household self-consumption scenarios, the study examines whether SHS is cost-optimized for either on-grid or off-grid operation. A ground-source heat pump for space and water heating is one of them, along with electric vehicles and lithium-ion battery storage.

According to the findings, SHS can only be anticipated in a small segment of the off-grid market, which is only present in North America, Northern Europe, and Northwest Eurasia. Little amounts of SHS capacity may also be available in Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar, the report suggests. The SHS capacity in the Baltics, Scandinavia, and southern regions of Canada are all less than 1,000 kWh.

Note, none of the regions looked into for on-grid situations have SHS as the least expensive alternative. Their research was just published in Applied Energy under the title “Seasonal hydrogen storage for residential on- and off-grid solar photovoltaic prosumer applications: Revolutionary answer or niche market for the energy transition till 2050?.”