Hydrogen Production and Its Storage from Solar Energy

The aim of this study is to increase the energy efficiency of the solar panel, to make the waste heat generated under the panel efficient and to store the electrical energy produced from solar panels in the form of hydrogen in boron nitride and boron carbide. Characterization of boron nitride and boron carbide was carried out with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR), differential thermal and thermogravimetric analysis (DTA/TG), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX). The specific surface areas and pore sizes of the boron nitride and boron carbide were determined as 78 and 20 m²/g; and 3.8 and 11.1 nm, respectively. DTA/TG thermograms showed that boron nitride degraded in one step in the temperature range of 30-550°C and boron carbide degraded in two steps. From experimental studies, approximately 8.7% energy efficiency was achieved and hydrogen energy was costless produced from a renewable energy source excluding system costs. Moreover, it was found that 276% and 208% more hydrogen could be stored in the boron compounds, the boron nitride had more hydrogen storage capacity, and the electrical efficiency of the panel was increased.