engleski

Small-scale renewable energy hydrogen system: Case study

A small-scale stand-alone renewable hydrogen energy system has been installed at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Split. The system consists of PV panels and wind turbine for energy production, the electrolyzer, hydrogen storage and the fuel cell for a long-term energy storage and the lead-acid batteries for a short-term energy storage. Since the battery and the hydrogen storage are insufficient for proper system operation, sizing method is proposed. The main purpose of this system is to study and optimize control strategies for energy management. There are several energy pathways from the source to the load, namely: (i) directly from the source to the load ; (ii) excess energy may be used to charge the batteries, and power from batteries may be used in periods when power from renewables cannot satisfy the load ; (iii) depending on the state of charge of the batteries, excess energy from renewables may be used in the electrolyzer to produce hydrogen ; (iv) if the battery state of charge is low, the hydrogen may be used by the fuel cell to generate the power. The electrolyzer can operate at maximum efficiency point or directly on variable power produced from renewable energy. An optimal control strategy and proper battery sizing should result in fewer start-ups and shut-downs of the electrolyzer and the fuel cell. In parallel, such a system has been modeled and its operation simulated using hourly data for wind speed and solar insolation. The simulation results show that with proper energy storage sizing and good energy management strategy it is possible to achieve stable system operation.

renewable energy ; hydrogen ; hydrogen storage ; stand-alone renewable energy system

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