Technical analysis of an electric power system consisting of solar PV energy, wind power, and hydrogen fuel cell

Global environmental concerns are leading electric power researchers around the world to develop advanced processes and technologies for a sustainable & reliable power supply. Furthermore, growing awareness of the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on global climate has necessitated a reassessment of conventional approaches to achieve a sustainable power supply. Using more environmentally friendly and renewable energy sources would bring big reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and subsequently would improve the climate. This paper summarises the technical issues need to be considered when designing a hybrid renewable energy system. This paper presents results of a study conducted on the technical aspects of a power supply system, in which wind power and solar PV energy are combined with hydrogen fuel cell. Although the power sources in this system are of intermittent nature, but because an energy storage technology (hydrogen) is incorporated into the system, the negative effects of intermittency would be minimal. This paper also presents the results of a computer simulation developed for modelling the entire power generation and storage system. This program allows us (i) to find a near-ideal size of system's components and (ii) to predict the system's performance.