Comparison between Batteries and Fuel Cells for Photovoltaic System Backup

Batteries and fuel cells contain a great potential to back up severe photovoltaic power fluctuations under inclement weather conditions. In this paper comparison between batteries and fuel cells is carried out in detail only for their PV power backup options, so their common attributes and different attributes is discussed. Then, the common and different attributes are compared; accordingly, the fuel cell is selected as the backup of Photovoltaic system. Finally, environmental evaluation of the selected hybrid plant was made in terms of plant's land requirement and lifetime 2 CO emissions, and then compared with that of the conventional fossil- fuel power generating forms.