Hybrid photovoltaic-fuel cell-supercapacitor energy system for power generation in stand-alone operation

Abstract

This project presents modelling and control of photovoltaic (PV), fuel cell (FC) and supercapacitor (SC) hybrid power system for stand-alone application. This hybrid power system uses solar photovoltaic array and fuel cell as the main source and share their power effectively to meet the load demand. Due to the intermittent nature of solar energy source and the slow response of fuel cell towards transient and load changes, this problem may disturb the power balance at demand side during peak hour, thus the system needs a backup power sources. In this project, supercapacitor is used as a storage device and is added to supply energy and improve the system performance. The fast power response of a supercapacitor will complement the slow power output from the main source. Lastly, the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control for PV and the supercapacitor state of charge (SoC) control are also addressed in this work. A detailed dynamic model of photovoltaic/fuel cell hybrid system with supercapacitor bank and control strategies are modelled and simulated using MATLAB/Simulink software. The simulation results highlight the response of the system towards transient and load changes and the efficiency of the microgrid system is analysed and compared between PC-FC system and PV-FC-SC system.