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Due to their intermittent nature, the use of renewable energy sources has faced the challenges of power insecurity and low efficiency. Recently, fuel cells (FCs) have become a potential choice for backup-power generation in remote microgrids due to their reduced maintenance needs and long lifecycle. However, the efficiency of hydrogen FCs as backup power needs to be improved. The efficiency is related to system sizing and operational techniques. Thus, this paper proposes an efficient energy management strategy and optimal configuration models based on a hybrid system including photovoltaics (PVs) and hydrogen FCs to achieve a high operational efficiency and optimize the system configuration. The system model is built, and an energy management strategy is proposed first. This strategy determines when the PV and FC supply power to a load under various conditions. Proper sizing of the sub-components in the PV/FC hybrid system also plays an essential role in ensuring continuous power flow. To ensure power quality, the hybrid system configuration is estimated using a systematic method without affecting the power quality to minimize residual power losses. In addition, various essential simulations are performed to verify the proposed model. The results indicate that the total efficiency of the system can reach 47.9%.

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No abstract

There is an increasing reliance on renewable energy especially Solar Energy as the fossils are on the way to depletion.It offers an environmental friendly solution with an affordable comparative paradigm. Solar photovoltaic-thermal collectors have remained of the particular interest because of their higher overall efficiencies. Most of its applications related with solar hybrid PVT systems focuses more on electrical output rather than thermal output, and the contacting fluid is allowed to act as a coolant to assure that the solar cell operates in the ranges specified by the manufacturer to guarantee higher electrical efficiency. This ultimately allows fluid to retain higher temperature that could be utilized for meeting the heating demand of any residential household. First, the PVT analyses are performed over a system comprising of Fresnel-based Solar Module to allow higher irradiance to fall for relative higher conversion of efficiency and to achieve higher temperature ranges in the contacting fluid (water). The electrical parameters are compared, and a significant increase in the power ranges is concluded. Secondly, a simulated thermal structure of the heating tank is presented that utilises the heated water from the PVT system in meeting the heating demand of a residential household. When accounting all the electrical parameters, approximately 10% increase is noticed in power produced, and sufficient energy used for the traditional heating of water is retained.