Simulation and Experimental Investigation into a Photovoltaic and Fuel Cell Hybrid Integration Power System for a Typical Small House Application

Abstract

The paper addresses the simulation of a novel real-time implementation of a photovoltaic (PV) and fuel cell (FC) hybrid integration power system. The hybrid system has the potential of reducing the dependency on batteries, leading to reduced cost and increased life span of the whole system using the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell. The interface structure of the hybrid system has been explored incorporating the Maximum Power Point Technique (MPPT) for maximum power extraction. The simulation of the hybrid system including fuel cell, PhotoVoltaic panels (PVs) and battery has been carried out using SimPowerSystems. An innovative Real Time Interface (RTI) approach using the concept of the Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) has been presented for a fast dynamic response of a closed loop control of the hybrid system. The corroboration of the hybrid system is validated experimentally, using a real photovoltaic panel connected to a PEM fuel cell emulator and battery. The PVs are controlled by the perturbation and observation Maximum Power point (MPP) technique and the PEM fuel cell is controlled through a boost DC-DC converter using current mode control. The whole system is implemented on the dSPACE 1103 platform for real-time interface and control strategies. The overall behavior of the hybrid system has been critically analyzed and corroboration of the simulated and experimental results have been presented.

Keywords:

• PEM Fuel cell
• photovoltaic
• battery
• emulator
• hybrid system
• integrated

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Algerian government for providing the funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Hakim Djoudi

Hakim Djoudi received his engineering and magister degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou Algeria, in 2006 and 2009, respectively. He worked as teaching assistant at the University of Tizi-Ouzou. He is actually a Ph.D student at the Electrical Engineering Advanced Technologies Laboratory of the same University. His main research includes energy management, photovoltaic energy and fuel cell.

Nabil Benyahia

Nabil Benyahia received his PhD degree in electrical engineering from the University of Béjaia, Algeria in 2014. He worked as researcher on hybrid system and energy system conversion at the University of Tizi-ouzou from January 2009 to August 2019. He has worked as assistant professor at the ENSEM School in Nancy and as member of the Electrical Engineering and Electronic Research Group of Nancy (GREEN-Lab) from September 2019 to August 2020. He is currently with the naval school of Brest, France, where he is an assistant professor in areas are especially relevant in the development of new electrical ship systems. His research activities include design and development of control power system based on high speed applications.

Abderrezak Badji

Abderrezak Badji received the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi Ouzou, Algeria in 2013. He is currently a Ph.D student at the Electrical Engineering Advanced Technologies Laboratory of Tizi-Ouzou and IRIMAS Laboratory of Haute-Alsace University. His research interests include power electronics and energy management of hybrid systems.

Amar Bousbaine

Amar Bousbaine received the Ingenieur d’Etat (M.Eng.) degree in Electro-technique from the University of Tizi-Ouzou, Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria, the M.Sc. degree in Electrical Power Engineering from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, U.K., and the Ph.D. degree in Thermal Modeling of Induction Machines from the University of Sheffield, Sheffield. He is currently with the College of Engineering and Technology, University of Derby, Derby, U.K., where he is the University Reader in Power Electronics and Automotive Electrical Systems. He draws upon a wealth of industrial experiences as project leader for various industrially sponsored projects including EPSRC: “Development of an integrated electro-thermal model for electrical drive systems”, KTP: “Design of a solid state frequency converter for aircraft ground supply unit”, and Healthcare and Bioscience iNet: “Computer Games Intervention with Mucus Clearing Devices for Cystic Fibrosis”. His research interests include electric power components and systems.

Riad Moualek

Riad Moualek received the Master degree in Electro-technique (Option Machines Electriques) from University of Tizi-Ouzou, Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria. He worked on modeling and real time emulations of fuel cell. He is actually a Ph.D student at LATAGE laboratory (Laboratoire des Techniques Avancées en Génie Electrique) of department d’Electrotechnique of the same University. He works on hybrid electric sources, power management and energy conversion system. He is member of PRFU research group program (Programme de Recherches et de Formation Universitaire). Currently, his research includes heliostatic control of photovoltaic panels, drones control and BLDC speed control.

Said Aissou

Said Aissou received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Béjaia, Algeria, in 2016. His research focused on the renewable energy, MPPT in solar energy. He is currently a teacher researcher at the Electrical Engineering Department, University of Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria. His current research interests include energy conversion and energy efficiency, power devices and applications, and reliability.

Nacereddine Benamrouche

Nacereddine Benamrouche received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from The University of Sheffield, U.K. He worked as teaching assistant at the University of Leeds in 1990/1991, and as a Head of Department in Najran Technical College of Technology, Saudi Arabia, from 2000 to 2004. He is currently a professor at the Electrical Engineering Department, University of Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria, and occupies the chair of Vice Chancellor to postgraduate studies and research at the same University, 2007-2011. He is currently Director of Electrical Engineering Advanced technologies Laboratory. His research interests include electrical machines and drives, power electronics and control systems, and renewable energy.