2009 International Conference on Energy and Environment Technology

Dynamic Modeling and Simulation of Hybrid Power Systems Based on Renewable Energy
Teng-Fa Tsao
Department of Electrical Engineering Nan-Kai University of Technology Nantou 542, Taiwan, ROC tdf@nkut.edu.tw

Po-Hung Chen
Department of Electrical Engineering St. Johns University Taipei 251, Taiwan, ROC phchen@mail.sju.edu.tw

Hung-Cheng Chen
Department of Electrical Engineering National Chin-Yi University of Technology Taichung 411, Taiwan, ROC hcchen@ncut.edu.tw

AbstractThis paper describes dynamic modeling and simulation results of a renewable energy based hybrid power system. The paper focuses on the combination of solar cell (SC), wind turbine (WT), fuel cell (FC) and ultra-capacitor (UC) systems for power generation. As the wind turbine output power varies with the wind speed and the solar cell output power varies with both the ambient temperature and radiation, a FC system with an UC bank can be integrated to ensure that the system performs under all conditions. Excess wind and solar energies when available are converted to hydrogen using an electrolyzer for later use in the fuel cell. Dynamic modeling of various components of this isolated system is presented. Transient responses of the system to step changes in the load, ambient temperature, radiation, and wind speed in a number of possible situations are studied. Keywords- fuel cell; hybrid power system; renewable energy; solar cell; ultra-capacitor; wind turbine

storage and transportation of large amounts of power at much higher energy densities [2]. Furthermore, coupling a wind turbine, a solar cell, fuel cells and electrolyzers is efficacious to improve environment pollution because of by using natural energy. In this paper, a detailed dynamic model and simulation of a solar cell/wind turbine/fuel cell hybrid power system is developed using a novel topology to complement each other and to alleviate the effects of environmental variations. Modeling and simulations are conducted using MATLAB/Simulink [3] software packages to verify the effectiveness of the proposed system. The results show that the proposed hybrid power system can tolerate the rapid changes in natural conditions and suppress the effects of these fluctuations on the voltage within the acceptable range. II. DYNAMIC SYSTEM MODELS A. Solar Cell A solar cell module is the basic element of each photovoltaic system. It consists of many jointly connected solar cells. A number of solar cell models have been developed, but the one diode electrical equivalent circuit is commonly used for cell based or module based analysis. It consists of a diode, a current source, a series resistance and a parallel resistance. The current source generates the photo-current that is a function of the incident solar cell radiation and temperature [4], [5]. The diode represents the p-n junction of a solar cell. The temperature dependence of the diode saturation current and constant diode ideality factor are included in the modeling. At real solar cells, a voltage loss on the way to the external contacts is observed. This voltage loss is expressed by a series resistance (Rs). Furthermore leakage currents are described by a parallel resistance (Rsh). However, the series resistance is very small and the parallel resistance is very large [6]. So we can ignore Rs and Rsh. The solar cell current equation is

I.

INTRODUCTION

Comparing with the nuclear energy and thermal power, the renewable energy is inexhaustible and has non-pollution characteristics. The solar energy, wind power, hydraulic power and tide energy are natural resources of the interest to generate electrical sources. Extensive and generalized usage of renewable energy is very popular to reduce the pollutions we have cause on earth. The wind and solar energy are welcome substitution for many other energy resources because it is natural, inexhaustible resource of sunlight to generate electricity [1]. The main disadvantage of wind turbines is that naturally variable wind speed causes voltage and power fluctuation problems at the load side. This problem can be solved by using appropriate power converters and control strategies. Another significant problem is to store the energy generated by wind turbines for future usage when no wind is available but the user demand exists [1]. The solar cell depends on the weather factors, mainly the irradiation and the cell temperature. Therefore, the weather factors such as the irradiation and the temperature are utilized for the estimation of the maximum power in this paper. After many technological advances, proton exchange membrane fuel cell technology has now reached the test and demonstration phase. The recent commercial availability of small PEMFC units has created many new opportunities to design hybrid energy systems for remote applications with energy storage in hydrogen form [2]. By using an electrolyzer, hydrogen conversion allows both
The research was supported in part by the National Science Council of the Republic of China, under Grant No. NSC96-2221-E-167-029-MY3.

Vmp 1 I pv (t ) = I sc 1 C1 exp C2Voc E (t ) + tt [ (Ta (t ) + 0.002 Ett (t ) + 1)] I mp E st

(1)

978-0-7695-3819-8/09 $26.00 2009 IEEE DOI 10.1109/ICEET.2009.152

602

The solar cell voltage equation is

Rint = 0.01605 3.5 10 5 T + 8 10 5 i

(9)

E (t ) V pv (t ) = Vmp 1 + 0.0539 log tt E st + (Ta (t ) + 0.02 Ett (t ) )

C1 = (1 I mp I sc Vmp ) exp C 2Voc

(2) (3)

The combined effect of thermodynamics, mass transport, kinetics, and ohmic resistance determines the output voltage of the cell as defined by Vcell = E vact ohmic The ohmic voltage loss in the fuel cell is given by (10)

Vmp C2 = Voc ln(1

ohmic = i Rint
(4)
dvact v i = act dt C Ra C Ra = vact i

(11) (12)

1 I mp )

I sc We used the solar cell current and voltage equation to build a solar cell model by MATLAB/Simulink. B. Wind Turbine The power output of wind turbine is relating to wind speed with a cubic ratio. Both the first order moment of inertia (J) and a friction based dynamic model for the wind turbine rotor, and a first order model for the permanent magnet generator are adopted. The dynamics of the wind turbine due to its rotor inertia and generator are added by considering the wind turbine response as a second order slightly under-damped system [4]. Using this simple approach, small wind turbine dynamic is modeled as Pg(s)/Pwt(s)=0.25/(s2+0.707s+0.25) (5)

(13)

The fuel cell system consists of a stack of 65 similar cells connected in series. Therefore, the total stack voltage is given by Vstack = 65Vcell (14)

Using the mole conservation principle, the gas pressure of the fuel cell anode is given as Va dPH 2 i = m H 2in ( H 2 UA) out RT dt 2F The gas pressure of the fuel cell cathode is given as Vc dPo2 i = mO2in ( O2 UA) out RT dt 4F (16) (15)

C. Fuel Cell The PEM fuel cell is one of the most promising and certainly the best known of the fuel cell types satisfying above requirements. It is often considered as a potential replacement for the internal combustion engine in transportation applications. The PEM fuel cell consists of porous carbon electrodes bonded to a very thin sulphonated polymer membrane. The thermodynamic potential E is defined via a Nernst equation in expanded form as [5] E = 1.229 0.85 10 3 (T 298.15)

Using (6)-(16), the MATLBA/Simulink model of a fuel cell is built. D. Electrolyzer Water can be decomposed into its elementary components by passing electric current between two electrodes separated by an aqueous electrolyte [7]. The electrochemical reaction of water electrolysis is given by
H2O( )+electrical energy H2(g)+ 1 2 O2(g) (17)

+ 4.3085 10 5 T (ln PH 2 + 0.5 ln PO2 )

(6)

The parametric equation for the over-voltage due to activation and internal resistance developed from the empirical analysis is given as
act = 0.9514 + 0.00312T 0.000187T ln(i )

According to Faradays law, hydrogen production rate of an electrolyzer cell is directly proportional to the electrical current in the equivalent electrolyzer circuit [5].

+ 7.4 10 5 T ln(co2 )
co2 = Po2

(7)
(8)

nH 2 =

F nc ie
2F

(18)

498 5.08 106 e t

where ie is the electrolyzer current, nc is the number of electrolyzer cells in series, and F is the Faraday efficiency. The ratio between the actual and the theoretical maximum amount of hydrogen produced in the electrolyzer is known as

603

Faraday efficiency. Assuming that the working temperature of the electrolyzer is 40 , Faraday efficiency is expressed by [5], [7]

F = 96.5e (0.09 / ie 75.5 / ie )

(19)

According to the (18) and (19), a simple electrolyzer model is developed using Simulink. The storage and consumption are also considered in this model.

E. Ultra-Capacitor Model Ultra-capacitors are used in power applications requiring short duration peak power. An ultra-capacitor is an energy storage device with a construction similar to that of a battery. In this subsection, we present the model of the UC bank to perform load sharing with the FC system when they simultaneously operate with the wind turbine and solar cell. Although FC systems exhibit good power supply capability during steady state operation, the response of fuel cells during instantaneous and short-term peak power demand periods is relatively poor. In these periods, the UC bank can assist the FC system to achieve good performance whereas reducing the cost and size of the FC system. Such an ultra-capacitor module was connected in parallel with the fuel cell to reduce its voltage variation due to sudden load changes. The ultra-capacitor is modeled as a low pass filter with the transfer function given below VUC Rc Cs + 1 = VFC ( Rs + Rc )Cs + 1 (20)

Figure 1. Renewable energy based hybrid power system model in Simulink.

IV. SIMULATION RESULTS OF THE HYBRID POWER SYSTEMS Simulation results with step changes in load demand, wind speed, radiation, and ambient temperature are analyzed and shown in Figs. 2-5. The initial wind speed is 10 m/s. Wind speed increases, at t=10s, from 10 to 12 m/s and decreases to 8 m/s at t=16s. The solar cell initially supplies power at the radiation 400W/m2 and temperature 25. At 15s, the radiation increases to 600W/m2 and temperature also increases to 28. The load demand changes from 375W to 225W at 10s. These step inputs cause changes in available power and load consumption. The power tracking performance of the hybrid topology with respect to load demand change and environmental variations is shown in Fig. 2. Associated parameter variations in solar cell, wind turbine, fuel cell, ultracapacitor, power converter output, and system performance are analyzed. With variation in load, the power demand changes from 375W to 225W at 10s as shown in Fig. 2. The fuel cell provides power for load requirement because of the output powers of the wind turbine and solar cell are not sufficient enough to supply load demand at t=0s to 10s. However, as the wind speed increases, the captured power increases and the contribution of the fuel cell decreases. Any excess power is diverted to the electrolyzer during this period. Similarly, with sudden decrease in wind speed, the contribution of the fuel cell starts at t=19.1s. With changes in load and environmental conditions, the solar cell current and fuel cell current vary as shown in Fig. 3. These changes are reflected in the performance of the fuel cell system. The stack current variation at t=0s to t=10s is due to start-up transients and load demand, as the solar cells and wind turbines contributions are limited and fixed. During t=10s to t=16s, the fuel cell current decreases to zero because load demand is reduced and the wind turbine increases output power. After t=16s, variation in fuel cell current is due to changes in power demand from the fuel cell with varying availability of wind energy. Such changes in fuel cell current cause the stack voltage to vary significantly. Generally, a lower level of current implies higher stack voltage and vice versa. The use of an ultracapacitor in parallel with the fuel cell reduces the stacks output variation as shown in Fig. 4. With variations of the

Where capacitance C=108.75 F , series resistance Rc=16 m and stray resistance Rs=0.01 . III. SYSTEMS DESCRIPTION The renewable energy based hybrid power system model in Simulink is shown in Fig. 1. The system consists of a 75W solar cell, a 400W wind turbine, a 500W proton exchange membrane fuel cell, an ultra-capacitors, an electrolyzer, and a power conditioner. The power conditioner includes a boost circuit and a SPWM inverter. It is used to step up ultracapacitor voltage to DC 200V and invert to 120Vrms, 60Hz AC. The wind turbine adopted is Southwest Windpower Air 403. When wind speed is 12.5m/s, the wind turbine produces the maximum power 400W. Solar cell adopted is SIEMENS SP75 and its maximum power is 75W. Wind turbine and solar cell are the main sources to supply load demand. Fuel cell model includes a fuel cell module and a fuel controller. The fuel controller consists of two PID controllers to limit the flows of hydrogen and oxygen. The fuel cell is a accessory generator in this system and supplies insufficient power. In order to keep the supply and demand is balanced. When the supply is bigger than the load need, the electrolyzer model electrolyzes water to produce hydrogen and store it for further usage. Thus, the system can circulate supply load demand and energy will not be wasted.

604

Hydrogen (C.C)

ultra-capacitor voltage between 49 and 62 V, the power converter unit regulates the load voltage. The controller in the boost converter adjusts the duty ratio so as to attain a fixed 200V DC in the inverters input. The inverter, on the other hand, delivers a 120 Vrms, 60 Hz AC to the load. The hydrogen is a fuel of fuel cell. The electrolyzer electrolyzes water to produce hydrogen by the excess power of the system and store it from t=10s to t=19.1s. The variation of hydrogen in storage tank is shown in Fig. 5. The system can circulate supply load demand and renewable energy will not be wasted.
450 400 350 300 Wind Solar Cell Fuel Cell Load

1025

1000

975 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Time (s)

Figure 5. Hydrogen variation in storage tank.

V. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a novel renewable energy based hybrid power system is proposed and modeled for a stand-alone user with appropriate power controllers. The available power from the renewable energy sources is highly dependent on environmental conditions such as wind speed, radiation, and ambient temperature. To overcome this deficiency of the solar cell and wind system, we integrated them with the FC/UC system using a novel topology. The voltage variation at the output is found to be within the acceptable range. The output fluctuations of the wind turbine varying with wind speed and the solar cell varying with both environmental temperature and sun radiation are reduced using a fuel cell. Therefore, this system can tolerate the rapid changes in load and environmental conditions, and suppress the effects of these fluctuations on the equipment side voltage. The proposed system can be used for off-grid power generation in noninterconnected areas or remote isolated communities.

Power (W)

250 200 150 100 50 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Time (s)

Figure 2. Power tracking performance of the hybrid topology with respect to load demand change and environmental variations.
6 Solar Cell Fuel Cell

Current (A)

REFERENCES
[1] C. T. Pan, J. Y. Chen, C. P. Chu, and Y. S. Huang, A Fast Maximum Power Point Tracing for Photovoltaic Power Systems, in Proc. 1999 IEEE Industrial Electronics Society Conf., vol. 1, pp. 390-393. J. A. Gow and C. D. Manning, Development of a Photovoltaic Array Model for Use in Power-electronics Simulation Studies, IEE Proc.Electric Power Application, vol. 146, no. 2, pp. 193-200, March 1999. The MathWorks http://www.mathworks.com/. M. J. Khan and M. T. Iqbal, Dynamic Modeling and Simulation of a Small Wind-Fuel Cell Hybrid Energy System, Renewable Energy, pp. 421-439, 2005. S. M. Shaahid and M. A. Elhadidy, Technical and Economic Assessment of Gidindependent Hybrid Photovoltaic-Diesel-Battery Power Systems for Commercial Loads in Desert Environments, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 11, pp. 1794-1810, Oct. 2007. D. B. Nelson, M. H. Nehrir, and C. Wang, Unit Sizing and Cost Analysis of Stand-Alone Hybrid Wind/PV/Fuel Cell Power Generation Systems, Renewable Energy, pp. 1641-1656, Aug. 2006. O. Ulleberg, Stand-alone Power Systems for the Future: Optimal Design, Operation and Control of Solar-Hydrogen Energy Systems, Ph.D. dissertation, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 1997.

0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

[2]
Time (s)

Figure 3. Current variations.

90 80 70 60 Solar Cell Fuel Cell UC

[3] [4]

[5]

Voltage (V)

50 40 30 20 10 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

[6]

Time (s)

[7]

Figure 4. Voltage variations.

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