Energy flow and management of a hybrid wind/PV/fuel cell generation system

Abstract

In this paper, an energy system comprising three energy sources, namely PV, wind, and fuel cells (FCs), is proposed. Each of the three energy sources is controlled so as to deliver energy at optimum efficiency. Fuzzy logic control is employed to achieve maximum power tracking for both PV and wind energies and to deliver this maximum power to a fixed DC voltage bus. The fixed voltage bus supplies the load while the excess power feeds the water electrolyzer used to generate hydrogen for supplying the FCs. A management system is designed to manage the power flow between the system components in order to satisfy the load requirements throughout the whole day. A case study is carried out using practical data from a site at El-Hammam (40 km west of Alexandria, Egypt). The study defines the power generated by wind and PV systems, the hydrogen generated using and stored in tanks, and the power generated by the FCs to supply the deficiency in the load demand. Simulation results, done for two seasons, proved the accuracy of the fuzzy logic controllers. Also, a complete description of the management system is presented.