An integrated system framework for fuel cell-based distributed green energy applications

The environmental pollution and diminishing conventional fuel sources and global warming problems make it more attractive for considering renewables as alternative energy sources, such as solar, wind and micro hydro, etc. Recent advances in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies further facilitate these energy options to supply electrical power to various communities. Hydrogen fuel cell systems coupled with renewable energy sources stand out as a promising solution. This paper presents an integrated system framework for fuel cell-based distributed energy applications. Five components are included in this framework: a physical energy system application, a virtual simulation model, a distributed coordination and control, a human system interface and a database. The integrated system framework provides a means to optimize system design, evaluate its performance and balance supplies and demands in a hydrogen assisted renewable energy application. It can either be applied to a distributed energy node that fulfills a local energy demand or to an energy-network that coordinates distributed energy nodes in a region, such as a hydrogen highway. The proposed system framework has been applied in the first phase of our multi-phases project to investigate and analyze the feasibility and suitability of hydrogen fuel assisted renewable power for a remote community. Through integration with an available renewable energy profile database, the developed system efficiently assists in selecting, integrating, and evaluating different system configurations and various operational scenarios at the application site. The simulation results provide a solid basis for the next phase of our demonstration projects.