\

Int[ J[ Hydro`en Ener`y\ Vol[ 12\ No[ 00\ pp[ 0994Ð0998\ 0887
Þ 0887 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd on behalf of the
Pergamon International Association for Hydrogen Energy
All rights reserved[ Printed in Great Britain
PII] S9259Ð2088"87#99913ÐX 9259Ð2088:87 ,08[99¦9[99

SIMULATION OF A SOLAR!HYDROGEN!FUEL CELL SYSTEM]

RESULTS FOR DIFFERENT LOCATIONS IN MEXICO

L[ A[ TORRES\ F[ J[ RODRI
łGUEZ and P[ J[ SEBASTIAN
Centro de Computo\ CIE!UNAM\ Solar!H1!Celda de combustible\ CIE!UNAM\ 51479\ Temixco\ Morelos\ Mexico

Abstract*The authors report the results obtained from the simulation of a PV!hydrogen!fuel!cell "PVHFC# hybrid
system for di}erent locations in Mexico[ The hybrid system consists of photovoltaic arrays coupled with an electrolyzer
to produce hydrogen\ a fuel cell which converts chemical energy "H1# to electricity\ a hydrogen storage\ a battery
storage system\ and the load[ In this kind of system\ all components can be connected electrically in parallel[ The
voltage of the PV arrays the fuel cell must be high enough to charge the battery\ and the voltage of the electrolyzer
must be low enough for the battery to power it during periods of low insolation[ The simulation is based on the
electrical component models and variable insolation data depending on the location[ Þ 0887 Published by Elsevier
Science Ltd on behalf of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy

INTRODUCTION generated in the photovoltaic array is sent to an elec!

In a PVHFC energy system\ electricity is produced by
a PV array to meet the requirements of a load[ When
there is enough solar radiation available\ the external
load can be powered totally by the PV electricity[ During
periods of low insolation\ auxiliary electricity is required[
A hydrogen energy system\ formed by an electrolyzer\ a
hydrogen storage system\ and a fuel cell that works as an
auxiliary generator\ has been studied in several projects
as a complementary system showing good performance
ð0Ð3Ł[ A schematic picture of the PVHFC energy system
is displayed in Fig[ 0[ In this system\ excess electricity
trolyzer to produce H1\ which is stored for a period of
time to be converted\ when required\ into electricity using
the fuel cell[ The fuel cell can be considered as a back!up
generator to meet the load requirement and charge the
battery when the electricity from the photovoltaic arrays
is low[
In this work\ we report the simulation of a PVHFC
energy system to power a 0999 W load[ Simulation was
done for four locations in Mexico "La Paz 13> 09?N\
Monterrey 14> 39?N\ Temixco 07> 49?N and Campeche
08> 40?N#[ The PV array consists of several sub!arrays^
the number of sub!arrays varied depending on the
meteorological data[ Each sub!array consists of 07
modules\ wired in nine series pairs for 13 V DC operation[
In this system\ the PV array\ the load\ and the electrolyzer
are connected directly[ During operating\ the fuel cell is
also connected directly to the load[ The idea of this kind
of system is to operate the load with PV electricity during
high insolation periods[ In the seasonal storage concept\
the electrolyzer produces H1 in summer\ which is stored
during this season[ During the months of low insolation
"winter# the fuel cell converts H1 back to electricity[ The
battery storage system is used for short term storage of
electricity[

Fig[ 0[ A schematic picture of the PVHFC hybrid energy system[
To whom correspondence should be addressed[
SYSTEM CONTROL
The system control is designed to optimize the input
and output currents for the di}erent components of the
overall system during a period of one year[ The ~ow chart

0994
0995 L[ A[ TORRES et al[

of the PVHFC system is shown in Fig[ 1[ Three di}erent calculates the next values to start the simulation*the
cases are considered in our system model\ based on the hourly irradiation for a typical day of the money for each
insolation data[ These cases are] city ð4Ł\ the number of PV modules in parallel and in
series in each sub!array according to the load\ and the
"0# The current from the PV array is high enough to total number of sub!arrays from the hourly irradiation
power the load\ and there is no excess current to be data[
used in other components of the system[ Once this information is obtained\ the simulation
"1# There is enough PV current to operate the elec! starts\ based on the above mentioned system control[ The
trolyzer but not enough current to power the load* four cases are evaluated each hour to _nd the number of
the minimum current requirement for the electrolyzer sub!arrays connected to each component of the system[
to operate is 09 A[ Currents less than 09 A are used The number of sub!arrays connected to power the load
to charge the battery[ Excess current from the PV or the electrolyzer will vary in each city[
array is also sent to the electrolyzer[ Only if the depth
of discharge "DOD# limit of the battery is reached\ is
excess PV current sent to this component[
"2# There is no PV current\ so the electricity must be
obtained from the auxiliary system[
The idea of this kind of system is to use the battery in
periods of high insolation "short term storage# and the
fuel cell during the winter "long term storage# or when
the discharge limit of the battery is reached[ In case "1#
mentioned above^ if the electrolyzer does not start its
operation in the correct time and the battery DOD raises
over the precaution limit\ the PV array is disconnected
to prevent damages[ The three cases are illustrated in Fig[
1 as the ~ow chart of the system[

SIMULATION DETAILS
The simulation of the PVHFC system was pro!
grammed using C language[ The simulation program
input data are global monthly {mean daily| radiation data
for each one of the four cities evaluated and the required
load for a period of 13 h a day[ The system program Fig[ 2[ The monthly energy balance for Temixco[

Fig[ 1[ The ~ow chart of the PVHFC system[

 HYDROGEN!FUEL CELL SYSTEM 0996

Fig[ 4[ The monthly energy balance for La Paz[

Fig[ 3[ The monthly energy balance for Campeche[

RESULTS
The proposed system showed good performance in
meeting the load requirement during the year for the
four locations\ even in those with large periods of low
insolation "La Paz and Monterrey#[ The objective of
using hydrogen energy during winter was ful_lled[ In all
cases the fuel cell operates only in December or January\
or during both months[ We can see in Figs 2Ð5 the
monthly energy produced by the PV array\ the energy
consumed by the electrolyzer\ and the monthly load
requirement for Temixco\ Campeche\ La Paz and
Monterrey during the year[ It is shown that in winter\ the
PV electricity is lower than the load requirements and
auxiliary energy is necessary[ It is during this period that
the fuel cell operates[ PV electricity is high enough to run
the load in the months of high insolation[ In all cases
only during the winter it is necessary to use the hydrogen
energy[
In the cases of La Paz and Monterrey\ it is necessary
to use the fuel cell only in December[ The fuel cell energy
needed for these months is 02[31 kW for La Paz and
21[11 kW for Monterrey[ For Temixco it is required to
use the fuel cell in November and December\ with energy
requirements of 06[72 kW and 50[90 kW respectively[ In
the case of Campeche\ hydrogen energy is needed for
December and January\ with requirements of 00[75 kW
and 02[22 kW for these months[

Fig[ 5[ The monthly energy balance for Monterrey[

0997 L[ A[ TORRES et al[

Table 0[ Generation and distribution of current for Temixco and Campeche in January

Temixco\ January Campeche\ January

Current to Irradiance PV current Current to Irradiance PV current Current to

Hour Load "A# "MJ:M1# "A# electrolyzer "A# "MJ:m1# "A# electrolyzer "A#

6 31 9[37 20 20 9[35 29 29
7 31 0[97 58 16 0[92 55 13
8 31 0[6 097 55 0[52 091 59
09 31 1[15 030 88 1[05 023 81
00 31 1[52 053 011 1[41 044 002
01 31 1[66 061 029 1[54 053 011
02 31 1[52 053 011 1[41 044 002
03 31 1[15 030 88 1[05 023 81
04 31 0[6 097 55 0[52 091 59
05 31 0[97 58 16 0[92 55 13
06 31 9[37 20 20 9[35 29 29

Table 1[ Generation and distribution of current for La Paz and Monterrey in May

La Paz\ May Monterrey\ May

Current to Irradiance PV current Current to Irradiance PV current Current to

Hour Load "A# "MJ:m1# "A# electrolyzer "A# "MJ:m1# "A# electrolyzer "A#

6 31 9[57 60 18 9[54 62 20
7 31 0[37 044 002 0[32 059 007
8 31 1[20 131 199 1[11 138 196
09 31 2[91 206 164 1[80 216 174
00 31 2[40 257 215 2[27 279 227
01 31 2[57 275 233 2[43 287 245
02 31 2[40 257 233 2[27 279 245
03 31 2[91 206 164 1[80 216 174
04 31 1[20 131 199 1[11 138 196
05 31 0[37 044 002 0[32 059 007
06 31 9[57 60 18 9[54 62 20

Tables 0 and 1 show the total current produced by the
PV array\ the current that is sent to the electrolyzer\ the
current sent to the load\ and the hourly radiation on the
plane of the PV modules[ When insolation is low\ current
produced by the PV array is sent to the battery[ When
the current is 09 amp or more\ it is supplied to the elec!
trolyzer[ Only when the PV current reaches the minimum
value to run the load\ is it used for this purpose[ The
energy excess is always sent to the electrolyzer[
CONCLUSION
The PVHFC hybrid system consists of photovoltaic
arrays coupled with an electrolyzer to produce hydrogen\
a fuel cell which converts chemical energy "H1# to elec!
tricity\ a hydrogen storage\ a battery storage system\ and
the load[ In this kind of system\ all components can be
connected electrically in parallel[ The voltage of the PV
arrays and the fuel cell must be high enough to charge
the battery\ and the voltage of the electrolyzer must be
low enough for the battery to power it during periods of
low insolation[ The simulation is based on the electrical
component models and variable insolation data depend!
ing on the location[
The PVHFC system shows good performance to meet
the load using energy produced for the photovoltaic array
or the hydrogen system[ The objective of the system\ that
the fuel cell operate only during the winter\ is reached[
The number of PV sub!arrays for each city can be varied
to see the increase of hydrogen energy demand during
the months of low insolation[
REFERENCES
0[ Vanhanen\ J[ P[\ Kauranen\ P[ S[\ Lund\ P[ D[ and Manninen\
L[ M[\ Solar Ener`y\ 0883\ 42\ 156[
 HYDROGEN!FUEL CELL SYSTEM 0998

1[ Vanhanen\ J[ P[\ Kauranen\ P[ S[ and Lund\ P[ D[\ Inter!
national Journal of Hydro`en Ener`y[\ 0886\ 11\ 696[
2[ Lehman\ P[ A[\ Chamberlin\ C[ E[\ Pauletto\ G[ and Roch!
eleau\ M[ A[\ in Proceedin`s of the 09th World Hydro`en
Ener`y Conference[\ Vol 0\ Ed[ D[ L[ Block and T[ N[ Vezi!
roglu\ 0883\ pp[ 300Ð319[
3[ Galli\ S[ and Stefanoni\ M[\ International Journal of Hydro`en
Ener`y\ 0886\ 11\ 342[
4[ Du.e\ J[ A[ and Beckman\ W[ A[\ Solar En`ineerin` of Ther!
mal Processes[ Wiley and Sons\ New York\ 0879[