Price inflation effects on a solar-geothermal system for combined production of hydrogen, power, freshwater and heat

This study explores the effects of price inflation on the optimal performance of a solar -geothermal system capable of combined production of hydrogen, power, freshwater and heat. Multi-objective optimization is applied, with the ground water mass flow rate and the solar collector area as the decision variables, alongside the payback period and the annual production of hydrogen, power, freshwater and heat as the objective functions. The results show that when inflation rises four-fold from 0.05 to 0.20, the ground water mass flow rate drops by 20.1%, while the solar collector area rises by 14.4%. Accompanying this are 15.0%, 12.2% and 12.0% decreases in annual freshwater, power and heat production, respectively, alongside a 9.9% increase in annual hydrogen production. The payback period, meanwhile, increases only modestly, from 6.11 to 7.39 years, demonstrating the economic viability of such a combined solar-geothermal system, even in inflationary times.(c) 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.