Demonstration of renewable electrical energy generation based on solar-hydrogen fuel cell technology

Abstract

Currently, fossil fuels as main energy source to fulfill world's energy demand is depleting fast. Their waste products are also causing global environment problems. One of the solutions is to replace the existing fossil fuel energy systems by the hydrogen energy system. This paper presents a small electrical energy generator based on solar-hydrogen fuel cell. The system comprises solar modules, electrolyzer, fuel cell, and hydrogen storage. Two solar modules of 50 watts peak output each with the help of DC-DC converter provide constant power of 26.28 watts to an PEM electrolyzer to produce 10 liters hydrogen gas within 150 minutes. Using high pressure, the hydrogen gas is then injected into metal cartridge to form metal hydride. The energy efficiency of electrolyzer is up to 75%. The cartridge containing hydrogen is then plugged in to PEM fuel cell to generate electricity. The global power output of fuel cell is 2.8 amperes and 23.5 watts evaluated at 8 volts. The current energy efficiency deduced for the load of 6 Ω is up to 36%. Supplied with 10 liters of hydrogen gas and operated under 6 Ω load, the running time is approximately 40 minutes with average power output of 9.8 watts. The waste products of entire process are merely pure water, heat, and oxygen gas. This small system is successful in demonstrating the future energy scenario of renewable and clean energy.