Design of Solar PV/Fuel Cell Hybrid Micro-Grid

Power System
Maryam Ahmed Naser, Ola Alkurdi, Farah Mohammed Tawalbeh
Dr. Chaouki Ghenai
University of Sharjah, Sustainable and Renewable Engineering Department

Abstract ❖ Prototype ❖ Fuel Cell

450 35

University of Sharjah spent around 80 million Dirhams on 400

30

energy consumption in 2016. Our objective is to reduce the 350

Hydrogen Flow Rate (ml/min)

25

Power of Fuel Cell (Watt)

300

energy consumption from the grid, increase the renewable 250 20

factor and reduce the carbon emission. Using Renewable 200

150
15

resources can diminish the problem of CO2 emissions and 100

10

supply a green source of energy such as Photovoltaic (PV) 50

0 0

technology. However, PV systems have problems of fluctuation 02:22 04:46 07:10 09:34 11:58 14:22 16:46 19:10 21:34 23:58

in the power output which will cause shortages of electricity. ❖ Summary of the System Components Time (Hour)

H2 Vs time Power Vs Time

This calls for the need of Hybrid renewable power systems that that were used 70

60
combine different sources together. In this phase of our project System Components Description 50
we are compensating for the availability of solar energy by • Type: RT250P polycrystalline solar cell

Power (Watts)
combining it with the fuel cell technology. A small-scale PV/Fuel • Efficiency: 16%
40

Cell/Electrolyzer Off-Grid Hybrid System of a capacity of 550 W • Rated Power: 250W 30

was designed and built. The performance of each component in • Rated Current: 8.39A 20

the system was tested and studied. The results show that the • Rated Voltage: 36.6V 10

• Short Circuit Current: 9.22A

designed system supplied the load fully with a minimum 0
00:00 02:24 04:48 07:12 09:36 12:00 14:24 16:48 19:12 21:36 00:00
Solar PV • Open Circuit Voltage: 39.8V Time (Hours)
shortage. Moreover, the results that were obtained validated
• Life time: 25 years
the simulation that was done using HOMER software. There
• Type: hydrogen generator (HG 30|60)
❖ Hydrogen Tank
was a similar behavior in the graph that showed the 300

• Efficiency: 50%
performance of the whole system, however, there were few
• Power consumption: 300 VA
250

differences. This was due to the losses in the prototype as the • Hydrogen purity: 6.0 (99.9999 % vol.)

Hydrogen production (L)

200

experiments were conducted. Overall, the final results helped Electrolyzer

• Life time: 15 years
us conclude that HOMER is a reliable software that can be used • Type: Pressurized Hydrogen Tank
150

to build larger scale systems. • Storage Capacity: max: 265 standard liters. 100

Approx. 150 standard liters.

50

Methodology Hydrogen Tank

• Life time: 25 years
0
7:10 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00

• Type: PEMFC Time (Hour)

In order to achieve our target of this project, the following steps

• Rated Power Output: 50 W
had been followed: • Rated Current: 8A
• Identify the need and Constraints. • Rated Voltage: 5V
• Research the Problem . Fuel Cell
• Life time: 50,000 hours
• Develop possible solution. • Type: ROCKET
• Select a promising solution. • 2 Batteries in Series
• Build a prototype Test and evaluate the prototype. • Voltage: 24 V
• Redesign as needed . Battery
• Nominal Capacity: 65 Ah
• Life time: 15 years

Experimental Setup • Type: POWERED (FPI series)

• Efficiency: 98%
• Rated Power: 1000W ❖ HOMER Validation
❖ Loads • DC Input voltage: 24V
0.4

System Inverter 0.35

• AC Output Voltage: 220VAC ±3%
• AC Output Frequency: 50Hz
0.3

• Life time: 15 years 0.25

Power (kW)

0.2

0.15

0.1

Results 0.05

❖ Solar PV
0
00:00 04:48 09:36 14:24 19:12 00:00 04:48
Time (Hour)
70 Load Vs Time PV Vs. Time Electrolyzer Vs. Time Fuel Cell Vs. Time
3500
60
3000
50
Load Power (Watt)

2500
40
Power (Watt)

2000
30
1500
20
1000
10
500
0
02:23 04:47 07:11 09:35 11:59 14:23 16:47 19:11 21:35 23:59
0
Time (Hour) 00:00 02:24 04:48 07:12 09:36 12:00 14:24 16:48 19:12 21:36 00:00
Time (Hour)

❖ Schematic diagram of the system Input Power Vs time Output Power Vs Time

❖ Electrolyzer
350
Conclusion
300
To conclude, our objectives for senior design project II were
250
met. We were able to get a renewable fraction of 100% as our
design is completely Off-Grid Hybrid System and due to this,
Power (VA)

200

150
the carbon emission is reduced. By building and sizing the
prototype, we studied the performance of each component in
100
the designed prototype. Validation of HOMER was done. We
50
found that the experimental result follows a similar trend to
0
00:00 02:24 04:48 07:12 09:36 12:00 14:24 16:48 19:12 21:36 00:00 HOMER and by this we can conclude that HOMER is a reliable
Time (Hour)
software to be used for large scale systems

Contact References
Maryam Ahmed Naser: U14121304@Sharjah.ac.ae [1] A. Kazim, "Assessments of primary energy consumption and its environmental
Ola Al Kurdi: U14121369@Sharjah.ac.ae consequences in the United Arab Emirates", Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,
Farah Tawalbeh: U14122175@Sharjah.ac.ae vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 426-446, 2007.

Dr. Chaouki Ghenai: cghenai@Sharjah.ac.ae [2] P. Per-Ola, C. Decker and J. Moussalli, "Energy efficiency in the UAE", Dubai, 2015.

University of Sharjah, Renewable and Sustainable Engineering Department [3]- A. Amin and T. Zeyoudi, "REmap 2030 analysis", Abu Dhabi, 2015.
www.sharjah.ac.ae/en/academics/Colleges/eng/dept/RenewableDepartment