Modeling and control of a small solar fuel cell hybrid energy system

This paper describes a solar photovoltaic fuel cell (PVEC) hybrid generation system consisting of a photovoltaic (PV) generator, a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), an electrolyser, a supercapacitor, a storage gas tank and power conditioning unit (PCU). The load is supplied from the PV generator with a fuel cell working in parallel. Excess PV energy when available is converted to hydrogen using an electrolyser for later use in the fuel cell. The individual mathematical model for each component is presented. Control strategy for the system is described. MATLAB/Simulink is used for the simulation of this highly nonlinear hybrid energy system. The simulation results are shown in the paper.