Direct coupling photovoltaic power regulator for stand-alone power systems with hydrogen generation

Abstract This paper describes a photovoltaic power regulator aimed for photovoltaic stand-alone hydrogen-backup power systems. The main characteristics of the regulator are the following; it employs a modular approach where each power cell has three ports, one input and two outputs, the input port is connected to a photovoltaic source while the two output ports are connected to a battery and to an electrolyser, respectively. A second characteristic is that the proposed regulator is driven sequentially, minimising the regulator losses. The operation and features of the photovoltaic regulator are presented and analyzed. Design guidelines are suggested and experimental validation is also given for a 2 kW prototype.

[1]  John Andrews,et al.  Direct coupling of an electrolyser to a solar PV system for generating hydrogen , 2009 .

[2]  P. Hollmuller,et al.  Evaluation of a 5 kWp photovoltaic hydrogen production and storage installation for a residential home in Switzerland , 2000 .

[3]  Yuzuru Sato,et al.  Electrolysis of LiOH for hydrogen supply , 2010 .

[4]  Sukhvinder P.S. Badwal,et al.  Stand-alone PEM water electrolysis system for fail safe operation with a renewable energy source , 2010 .

[5]  Marc A. Rosen,et al.  Partial substitution of hydrogen for conventional fuel in an aircraft by utilizing unused cargo compartment space , 2010 .

[6]  D. Stolten,et al.  Ten years of operational experience with a hydrogen-based renewable energy supply system , 2003 .

[7]  Phatiphat Thounthong,et al.  Control Strategy of Fuel Cell and Supercapacitors Association for a Distributed Generation System , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[8]  Emilio Bueno,et al.  Optimization of the photovoltaic-hydrogen supply system of a stand-alone remote-telecom application , 2009 .

[9]  Søren Knudsen Kær,et al.  Directly connected series coupled HTPEM fuel cell stacks to a Li-ion battery DC bus for a fuel cell electrical vehicle , 2008 .

[10]  K. Agbossou,et al.  Renewable energy systems based on hydrogen for remote applications , 2001 .

[11]  Gavin Conibeer,et al.  A comparison of hydrogen storage technologies for solar-powered stand-alone power supplies: A photovoltaic system sizing approach , 2007 .

[12]  R. Martínez-Béjar,et al.  Optimized photovoltaic generator–water electrolyser coupling through a controlled DC–DC converter , 2008 .

[13]  Simone Pedrazzi,et al.  A solar hydrogen hybrid system with activated carbon storage , 2010 .

[14]  Nelson A. Kelly,et al.  Predicting efficiency of solar powered hydrogen generation using photovoltaic-electrolysis devices , 2010 .

[15]  H Solmecke,et al.  Comparison of solar hydrogen storage systems with and without power-electronic DC–DC-converters , 2000 .

[16]  Peter Lund,et al.  Optimization of stand-alone photovoltaic systems with hydrogen storage for total energy self-sufficiency , 1991 .

[17]  David Infield,et al.  Electrical integration of renewable energy into stand-alone power supplies incorporating hydrogen storage , 2007 .

[18]  Angkee Sripakagorn,et al.  Experimental assessment of fuel cell/supercapacitor hybrid system for scooters , 2009 .

[19]  J. Andrews,et al.  Optimal coupling of PV arrays to PEM electrolysers in solar–hydrogen systems for remote area power supply , 2008 .

[20]  Mohammad S. Alam,et al.  Improved dynamic performance of hybrid PEM fuel cells and ultracapacitors for portable applications , 2008 .

[21]  L. G. Arriaga,et al.  Direct coupling of a solar-hydrogen system in Mexico , 2007 .

[22]  Woodrow W. Clark,et al.  Remote power systems with advanced storage technologies for Alaskan villages , 1997 .

[23]  H. Barthels,et al.  Phoebus-Jülich: An autonomous energy supply system comprising photovoltaics, electrolytic hydrogen, fuel cell , 1998 .

[24]  Ø. Ulleberg,et al.  TRNSYS simulation models for solar-hydrogen systems , 1997 .

[25]  M. Newborough,et al.  Micro-generation systems and electrolysers for refuelling private bi-fuel cars at home , 2009 .

[26]  Ø. Ulleberg.  Modeling of advanced alkaline electrolyzers: a system simulation approach , 2003 .

[27]  Frano Barbir,et al.  Efficiency and weight trade-off analysis of regenerative fuel cells as energy storage for aerospace applications , 2005 .

[28]  A. Garrigos,et al.  Modeling the sequential switching shunt series regulator , 2005, IEEE Power Electronics Letters.