A Microgrid with Hybrid Solar - Fuel Cell System With CHP Application

Abstract

Conventional electrical energy generation cannot satisfy the increasing demand and the usage of fossil fuels is also causing much harm to the environment. Renewable energy sources cause no pollution to the environment, and they are inexhaustible. In this paper, a hybrid system of fuel cell and solar energy is used for electricity generation and a controller will be designed which decides the energy source to be used, it will be modeled and simulated in the MATLAB/Simulink environment. Solar panels alone cannot be used to satisfy the demand since during night or rain, sunlight is not available and then an auxiliary energy source is needed, Fuel cells act as this auxiliary energy source and maintain the reliability of the system. The required hydrogen will be produced by utilizing excess energy from the PV panels by a PEM electrolyser and it will be stored in separate tanks for future use. The energy lost as heat from the fuel cells will be used for various heating applications, acting as a CHP plant. Solar cells are connected to a boost converter and the MPPT (P & O) algorithm will extract maximum power from the panel even if solar irradiance is changed. Solar energy will be used as the primary energy source, fuel cells will be used as a backup source in order to meet the electrical load and heat demands. A Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) converts the DC and an LCL Filter, filters the ripples and gives to AC loads. The obtained results showed that the system is able to satisfy the electrical and heat demand under varying conditions.