Electric power systems

In thesis work, an innovative design and implementation of a "trybrid" system is
carried out. This new "trybrid" system is the continuation of the solar electric vehicle
which was designed and developed as an undergraduate independent study under the
supervision of Dr. Roger Messenger. The work done on this thesis consists in the
implementation of the existing solar electric vehicle outfitted with a fuel cell system. For
this, two fuel cell systems were analyzed as possible candidates for the retrofit. Also,
different hydrogen storage methods are analyzed in terms of efficiency and safety. This
thesis also covers the control system utilized to manage the energy from the two different
energy sources. Special attention is devoted to the method of determining the state of
charge of the batteries which controls fuel cell turn on time. This first prototype shows
the different functionalities and optimized features that maximize the solar energy
production, and determines exactly when to turn on the fuel cell for minimum hydrogen
usage.

This thesis proposes a Power Management Model (PMM) for optimization of several green power generation systems. A Photovoltaic/Fuel cell Hybrid Energy System (PFHES) consisting of solar cells, electrolyzer and fuel cell stack is utilized to meet a specific DC load bank for various applications. The Photovoltaic system is the primary power source to take advantage of renewable energy. The electrolyzer-fuel cell integration is used as a backup and as a hydrogen storage system with the different energy sources integrated through a DC link bus. An overall power management strategy is designed for the optimization of the power flows among the different energy sources. Extensive simulation experiments have been carried out to verify the system performance under PMM governing strategy. The simulation results indeed demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.