Performance investigation of a wind turbine–solar photovoltaic panels–fuel cell hybrid system installed at İncek region – Ankara Turkey

Abstract

Renewable energy use in the world increases year by year. However in many cases it is not possible to cover the electrical energy need of even a single house using only one renewable energy resource due to its intermittent nature. At this point hybrid systems are applied to overcome this problem. This study focuses on the combination of photovoltaic solar panels a small scale wind turbine an electrolyzer and a proton exchange membrane fuel cell hybrid system for electrical power generation for an average house of 150 m2 located at İncek region of Ankara Turkey. Solar and wind energies were used as primary sources and a proton exchange membrane fuel cell is used as the backup power. The hybrid system was modeled and the results indicate that the use of the selected wind turbine with a 3 kW capacity along with photovoltaic panels with 17.97 m2 area is sufficient to provide the required 5 h operation of the electrolyzer which in turn provides the necessary hydrogen and oxygen to the fuel cell. Since the daily energy needed by the investigated house was taken as 5 kW h the fuel cell with a net power output of 1 kW supplies all electrical demand with its 5 h operation. The outcomes show that the hybrid system is capable to provide all electrical need of the house all year round except November. The electrical energy production of the proposed system is considerably higher than the demand in many months and this surplus electricity can be used in order to support the cooling and heating system of the considered house. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.