Integrated Renewable Energy Management System for Reduced Hydrogen Consumption using Fuel Cell

Abstract

The hybrid energy sources and their behavior may be controlled by monitoring and sensing with the help of a single or multiple control strategies incorporated in the energy management system. Utilization of the battery state of charge (SOC) and reduction in the consumption of hydrogen are the main objectives of battery and fuel cell (FC) based renewable hybrid power systems. The lifespan of the hydrogen storage as well as battery may be improved while improving the cost reduction benefits using these parameters. These objectives are achieved by designing an integrated energy management system (IEMS). A battery, supercapacitor (SC), proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and Photovoltaic (PV) cell are combined to provide the required power to a predetermined load to form a renewable hybrid power system (RHPS). During daylight, PV is the master power source in RHPS. During the shading or night time, FC is the secondary power source. When high load power is required, the FC is supported by the battery. Load fast change or load transient operation is performed by the SC. Maximum SOC value and minimum hydrogen consumption value is obtained simultaneously based on predetermined functions that aids in switching between the state machine control, frequency decoupling and fuzzy logic based integrated strategies in the proposed energy management model. When compared to the stand-alone strategies, the integrated model achieves increased SOC and reduced hydrogen consumption. When maximum value of PV power is attained, the surplus power is displayed at the load. The battery is charged using this surplus power. The stand-alone strategies and integrated strategy results are compared. The attainment of the goal of IEMS is confirmed from this comparison.