Power management of hybrid photovoltaic - fuel cell power systems

Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy systems are widely used as an important alternative energy source. To overcome the problem of intermittent power generation, PV power systems may be integrated with other power sources. Fuel cells are an attractive option because of high efficiency, modularity and fuel flexibility; however, one main week point is their slow dynamics. On the other hand, current technology batteries by themselves are usually insufficient to provide the long-term energy that the increasing loads require. Hybrid systems composed of fuel cells and batteries can be integrated with PV power systems to provide uninterrupted high-quality power. The goal of this study is to design an effective power management system for a PV/fuel cell/battery hybrid power system so that the combination can be used as a reliable power source. In this paper, the structure of the hybrid power system is described, and control strategies for power management of the hybrid power system are discussed. The proposed hybrid power system is then verified by numerical simulation.