Hybrid Energy Systems for Applications in Eco-Houses

Combining renewable energy generation like solar power with superior storage and conversion technology like hydrogen storage, fuel cells and batteries, offers a potential solution for a stand-alone power system. The aim of this paper is to assess the techno-economic feasibility of using hybrid energy system with hydrogen fuel cell for application in an eco-house that will be built in Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), Oman. Actual load data for a typical Omani house with similar size as the eco-House was considered as the stand-alone load with an average energy consumption of 40 kWh/day and 5 kW peak power demand. HOMER is used as a sizing and optimization tool for the system. It was found that the total annual electrical energy production is 42,255 kWh and the cost of energy for this hybrid system is 0.582 $/kWh. Furthermore, the fuel cell operated for 4497 h/year and consumed approximately 390 kg of hydrogen per year. Its estimated lifetime was 8.89 years and its average electrical output was 1.45 kW.