Abstract
Different energy sources and converters need to be integrated with each other for extended usage of alternative energy, in order to meet sustained load demands during various weather conditions. The objective of this paper is to associate photovoltaic generators, fuel cells, and electrolysers. Here, to sustain the power demand and solve the energy storage problem, electrical energy can be stored in the form of hydrogen. By using an electrolyser, hydrogen can be generated and stored for future use. The hydrogen produced by the electrolyser using PV power is used in the FC system and acts as an energy buffer. Thus, the effects of reduction and even the absence of the available power from the PV system can be easily tackled. Modeling and simulations are performed using MATLAB/Simulink and SimPowerSystems packages and results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed system.
Highlights
At present, most of energy demand in the world relies on fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas that are being exhausted very fast
Fossil fuels can have as an alternative some renewable energy sources like solar, wind, biomass, and so; among them on the photovoltaic (PV) generator which converts the solar radiation into electricity, largely used in low power applications
A PV/FC generator and PEM electrolyser have been described for a PV/FC system intended for gridconnected operations
Summary
Most of energy demand in the world relies on fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas that are being exhausted very fast. Fossil fuels can have as an alternative some renewable energy sources like solar, wind, biomass, and so; among them on the photovoltaic (PV) generator which converts the solar radiation into electricity, largely used in low power applications. The best method to overcome this problem is to integrate the PV generator with other power sources such as an electrolyser, hydrogen storage tank, FC system, or battery due to their good features such as high efficiency response, modular production, and fuel flexibility [3, 4]. Thanks to the rapid response capability of the fuel cell power system, the photovoltaic fuel cell hybrid system can be able to overcome the inconvenience of the intermittent power generation. Unlike a secondary battery, the FC does store energy and produce electricity for unlimited time to support the PV power generator. The coordination between the FC power system and the photovoltaic generator becomes necessary in order to smooth out the PV power fluctuations
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