International Journal of Energy Research, Vol.43, No.1, 455-474, 2019
Setting a fostered energy network by decarbonizing the grid: Hybridization, control, and future solutions upon storage
According to recent energy scenario, the abundancy of noncarbonaceous resources (NCRs) is capable of satisfying the energy demand of residential, commercial, and domestic in near future. This paper portrays hybridization of these sources, along with its control and hence presenting a novel framework for finding the operational hours of the storage device. This in turn will help in developing a fostered energy network (FEN) across the globe. Instead of connecting the NCRs concurrently, the proposed system is integrated in a segment fashion that yields three subsystems like solar PV-wind, wind-fuel cell, and solar PV-fuel cell. The controller thus designed for the voltage source converter (VSC) has its own uniqueness in operating at any system combination under healthy as well as various fault conditions. The electrolyzer is used for storing the surplus energy generated by the system and supplying energy during energy crisis and operates on a bidirectional controller. The reliability of the controller is tested by examining its operation for healthy as well as faulty conditions such as single line to ground (SLG) and three phase fault. Finally, the useful lifespan of the electrolyzer is estimated by using the probability approximation method. It relies upon obtaining the number of electrolyzers that will work for stipulated time period and how many of them will be discarded among all the installed. The system under study is modeled, simulated, and validated in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment.
Keywords:electrolyzer;fuel cell stack;lifespan approximation;solar PV;voltage source converter (VSC);wind power