An integrated system of zinc oxide solar panels, fuel cells, and hydrogen storage for heating and cooling applications.

Due to the production of hydrogen, using fuel cells for energy conversion and storing encounters safety problems. Combining high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells with photovoltaic solar panels or zinc oxide solar panels can be a good candidate to produce/convert and store the energy more efficiently for using at peak times. The current paper intends to analyze the efficiency of integration of zinc oxide solar panels and fuel cells to produce hydrogen directly. Therefore, the excess step of converting electricity to hydrogen and re-converting it to electricity, which is customarily used for the integration of the photovoltaic and solid oxide fuel cells, could be skipped. The new method paves the way for providing the required energy for heating/cooling through the floor heating and ceiling cooling systems as well as generating electricity. The article also demonstrates that it is possible to have heat during the day and night for an area of 1920 m 2 and 542 m 2 . It is also possible to create coolness during the day and night for an area of 925 m 2 and 260 m 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]