Hybrid Control for a Power Interface of a PEM-FC System Supplying Residential Thermostatic Loads

摘要

The integration of Fuel Cell (FC) technology in power systems as grid-tied or stand-alone source is a solution to accelerate the transition to cleaner energy production. Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEM-FC) can be used in residential applications where more effort should be employed to facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources. These PEM-FCs are generally used in association with a power-conditioning system to meet the specifications of residential loads. However, supplying alternative current loads generates low and high frequency ripples in the FC current and therefore, impacts negatively the lifetime of the FC. Particularly, thermostatic residential loads, e.g. baseboard heaters mainly used in Nordic countries, impose high and fast variations on the power profile which directly influences the FC performance. This paper focuses on the development of a control strategy for FC power conditioning system to supply residential loads. The proposed strategy minimizes the ripples of the fuel cell current with reduced use of energy storage compared to typical solutions. The proposed control strategy has been implemented in Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) and validated by simulations and experiments using thermostatic loads.