Automation of a small scale PEM fuel cell system for distributed generation under variable load

Small-scale generation has become an important direction on the evolution to the next power systems generation. In the effort to change the generation architecture from large central generation to a decentralized micro generation based system, renewable energy resources such as wind turbine generators and solar photovoltaic panels are leading growth on new generation technologies installations. Despite of the wind and solar based generation low operation cost, its uncertain and variable nature possesses significant challenges that are difficult to deal with. On the other hand, fuel cell generators are known to be capable of produce clean energy and also generate constant power. They present as a suitable solution for applications on distributed generation. In this work, a NOVEL methodology based on power electronics is used to control fuel cell system under grid load variations and resource. An illustrative educational kit composed by an electrolyzer and a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell was automated turning it into a distributed generation test bed. Also, this kit was used for characterization, modeling, implementing and evaluation of the control solution. The design of the control system aims to hold at a constant level the output voltage of the fuel cell under variation of load on the grid. The designed solution was evaluated by load and set point variations finding it appropriate for the applications on smart grids.