Modeling of a hybrid system of photovoltaic and fuel cell for operational strategy in residential use

In our country, a photovoltaic solar energy system has been widely utilized as an alternative energy source to fossil fuel at a residential area. The output of photovoltaic cell sharply changes according to weather conditions. Therefore, a certain power storage device is required to smooth the output and to meet electricity demand equivalent to a household load. A fuel cell is a promising candidate for long term energy system because hydrogen is supplied stably. This paper presents the modeling and operational strategy of a hybrid system of photovoltaic (PV) and fuel cell. The proposed system is consists of PV array, fuel cell stack, electrolyzer (EL), hydrogen storage tank, and power conversion devices. If the photovoltaic system is not able to supply power to the household load, the fuel cell system compensates a power shortage together with the utility grid. In case that surplus power occurs from the PV system, the EL system consumes it to generate hydrogen from pure water. The behavior of the proposed hybrid system is verified by numerical simulation using MATLAB/Simulink.