This study represents a thermodynamic evaluation and carbon footprint analysis of the application of hydrogen‐based energy storage systems in residential buildings. In the system model, buildings are equipped with photovoltaic (PV) modules and a hydrogen storage system to conserve excess PV electricity from times with high solar irradiation to times with low solar irradiation. Short‐term storages enable a degree of self‐sufficiency of approximately 60 % for a single‐family house (SFH) [multifamily house (MFH): 38 %]. Emissions can be reduced by 40 % (SFH) (MFH: 30 %) compared to households without PV modules. These results are almost independent of the applied storage technology. For seasonal storage, the degree of self‐sufficiency ranges between 57 and 83 % (SFH). The emission reductions highly depend on the storage technology, as emissions caused by manufacturing the storage dominate the emission balance. Compressed gas or liquid organic hydrogen carriers are the best options, enabling emission reductions of 40 %.

This paper analyzes the behavior of residential solar-powered electrical energy storage systems. For this purpose, a simulation model based on MATLAB/Simulink is developed. Investigating both short-time and seasonal hydrogen-based storage systems, simulations on the basis of real weather data are processed on a timescale of 15 min for a consideration period of 3 years. A sensitivity analysis is conducted in order to identify the most important system parameters concerning the proportion of consumption and the degree of self-sufficiency. Therefore, the influences of storage capacity and of storage efficiencies are discussed. A short-time storage system can increase the proportion of consumption by up to 35 percentage points compared to a self-consumption system without storage. However, the seasonal storing system uses almost the entire energy produced by the photovoltaic (PV) system (nearly 100% self-consumption). Thereby, the energy drawn from the grid can be reduced and a degree of self-sufficiency of about 90% is achieved. Based on these findings, some scenarios to reach self-sufficiency are analyzed. The results show that full self-sufficiency will be possible with a seasonal hydrogen-based storage system if PV area and initial storage level are appropriate.