Design of solar panels system with hydrogen accumulators and fuel cell

Design of solar panels system with hydrogen

accumulators and fuel cell

Waled MohamedWaled Mohamed

•Master’s student in Electrical Engineering at Sapienza University of Rome.

•First place winner of Myron Zucker Undergraduate Design Contest

•Advisor: Dr. Chiara Boccaletti Solar panels with hydrogen accumulators and fuel cell

Solar panels with hydrogen accumulators and fuel cell

• Why Hydrogen ? • The Plant• How it works • Case study• Results • Conclusions

Summary

Why Hydrogen ?


Why Hydrogen ?• It is an alternative energy vector which

can be used in both stationary and mobile/portable power applications, decreasing the dependence on oil.

• Hydrogen can be used in fuel cells to generate power using an electrochemical reaction rather than combustion, having only water and heat as byproducts, in this way reducing carbon emissions, and enabling clean, reliable power generation.



Why Hydrogen ?• Easy production

It is present in many organic compounds, notably the hydrocarbons that make up many of our fuels, such as gasoline, natural gas, methanol, and propane.

It can be separated from hydrocarbons through a process known as reforming. Currently, most hydrogen is made this way starting from natural gas.

An electrical current can also be used to separate water into its components, oxygen and hydrogen. This process is known as electrolysis.

The plant


The plant • The plant mainly consists of:

• Solar cells • Electrolyzer • Fuel cell• Hydrogen tanks• Inverter• Auxiliary components


Solar cellsTypes of solar cells •Crystalline silicon panels, µ = 13-15%

Monocrystalline Polycrystalline

•Black silicon/All Black panels (lower efficiency)

•Thin-film panels, µ =12%


Electrolyzer

• A device performing the water electrolysis for hydrogen production.

• Today the energy efficiency of electrolyzers is around 60%.


Fuel cells• A fuel cell is anElectrochemical generatorin which electrical energy is produced by the reaction between a fuel (hydrogen) and a gaseous oxidizing compound (oxygen or air).


Fuel cells• High electrical efficiency, with values

ranging from 40-48%, up to over 60% for high-temperature cells.

• Reduced environmental impact (as both gaseous emissions and acoustics).


Inverter

• The inverter is an electronicdevice or circuitry that changes (DC) to (AC).

• The inverter uses the technique MPPT to employ and maximize power output.• Peak efficiency is usually in the order of

96% to 98%Solar panels with hydrogen accumulators and fuel cell

Fuel tanks The hydrogen produced by electrolysis is pressurized up to the maximum nominal pressure of 7 bar or less.

•Auxiliary components Compressor Nitrogen cylinder Pressure regulator


How it works ?



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Case Study


Case Study• Solar panels

‒ Area: 20 m2

‒ Maximum power: 3 kW

• Electrolyzer ‒ Max. Power Consumption: 400 (W/h) ‒ Max. Water Consumption: 0.9 (L/h) ‒ Max. Gas Output: 80-100 (L/h)


• Fuel tanks‒ storing the hydrogen at the same pressure at

which is produced in the electrolyzer (7bar).

• Fuel cell ‒ Cell Type: PEM (Proton exchange membrane)‒ Output Voltage: (42 ~ 80 VDC)‒ Output Power: (DC 1.1~3.3 KVA)‒ Fuel Pressure: (5.5 ~ 8.3 Bar)‒ Cooling Type: Air Cooling


Case Study

Case Study• Inverter

– Maximum power: 2600 W– Output voltage: 184 ~ 264 V– Nominal current: 11.9 A– Frequency range: 47 ~ 50 Hz


Results


Results


The Daily Load on 5th of July

Results


Monthly load

Results


Solar Irradiation Data

Results


Energy produced by the panels

Results


Hourly average values of the power produced and absorbed

Results


Monthly Absorbed Energy in absence of the Plant

Results


Monthly Absorbed Energy in presence of the Plant

Results• To calculate the energy savings, we have

compared the annual electricity consumption from the utility without the pv/hydrogen-based plant, with the same consumption if the plant is present.

• If hydrogen is produced and stored through electrolysis, the power consumption from the utility decreases from 5859.3 kWh up to 3305.14 kWh, resulting in 44% savings.


Conclusions


Conclusions• Notwithstanding the promising saving in energy

consumption, the practical feasibility of the proposed system is currently constrained by the development of the technologies of fuel cells, electrolyzers, and solar panels.

• When these technologies will be sufficiently mature, PV/hydrogen-based plants like the one proposed here will be economically feasible on a large scale.

• In this case, it could be also necessary to evaluate different solutions for the hydrogen storage, to avoid the storage of significant quantities of hydrogen in high-pressure tanks very close to the users.


Questions ??



Thanks for your attention

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Design of solar panels system with hydrogen accumulators and fuel cell