Hybrid PEM Fuel-Cell-Diesel-Solar Power System Design with Fuzzy Battery Management System and Weather Forecasting for Electric Boats

A hybrid power system design which consists of three main components is proposed. The hybrid system is used to drive a three-phase asynchronous machine by supplying continuous power to the boat electric motor regardless the changes in weather conditions that are challenging for solar power systems due to the changes in solar irradiance levels which are affected by temperature, humidity, and wind speed. The overall hybrid system consists of three main components which are solar power from Photovoltaic (PV) array that has Maximization Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) system, fuel cell of type Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) with water electrolysis for producing hydrogen for the fuel cell operation, and diesel generator that use diesel oil for operation. Solar irradiance forecasting was considered by using Neural Network to test the continuous operation of the presented system regardless the changes in weather conditions. Fuzzy logic energy management was utilized to control the fuel cell operation with respect to battery state of charge. MATLAB and SIMULINK simulations will show the performance of the proposed system by SIMULINK blocks. The continuous operation will be shown regardless the changes in weather conditions.