Solar-hydrogen stand-alone power system design and simulations

Date

2010

Author

Uluoğlu, Arman

Metadata

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In this thesis, solar-hydrogen Stand-Alone Power System (SAPS) which is planned to be built for the emergency room of a hospital is designed. The system provides continuous, off-grid electricity during the whole period of a year without any external electrical power supply. The system consists of Photovoltaic (PV) panels, Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) based electrolyzers, PEM based fuel cells, hydrogen tanks, batteries, a control mechanism and auxiliary equipments such as DC/AC converters, water pump, pipes and hydrogen dryers. The aim of this work is to investigate the optimal system configuration and component sizing which yield to high performance and low cost for different user needs and control strategies. TRNSYS commercial software is used for the overall system design and simulations. Numerical models of the PV panels, the control mechanism and the PEM electrolyzers are developed by using theoretical and experimental data and the models are integrated into TRNSYS. Overall system models include user-defined components as well as the default software components. The electricity need of the emergency room without any shortage is supplied directly from the PV panels or by the help of the batteries and the fuel cells when the solar energy is not enough. The pressure level in the hydrogen tanks and the overall system efficiency are selected as the key design parameters. The major component parameters and various control strategies affecting the hydrogen tank pressure and the system efficiency are analyzed and the results are presented.

Subject Keywords

Mechanical engineering., Photovoltaic cells.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12611884/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/19676

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Theses