Abstract
Assembly of the NASA Lewis Research Center Solar Regenerative Fuel Cell Testbed Facility has recently been completed and system testing is in progress. This facility includes the integration of 50 kW photovoltaic solar cell arrays, a 25 kW proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis unit, four 5 kW PEM fuel cells, high pressure hydrogen and oxygen storage vessels, high purity water storage containers, and computer monitoring, control and data acquisition. The purpose of this facility is multi-faceted, but was originally intended to serve as a testbed for evaluating a closed-loop powerplant for future NASA extended life support operations, such as a Lunar outpost, and also as a terrestrial powerplant example for remote or continuous back-up support operations. The fuel cell and electrolyzer subsystems design and assembly were conducted by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the photovoltaic arrays and electrical interconnect to the electrolyzer were provided by the US Navy/China Lake Naval Weapons Center, and testing and operations are being carried out by JPL.
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