Micro Combined Heat and Power (microCHP) systems
based on Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells
allow the production of electricity and heat and ensure
lower emissions respect to conventional power systems.
However, system capital cost is still an issue. Depending on
the load profile, microCHP with battery storage (hybrid
systems) can allow to reduce system cost by reducing fuel
cell stack size. In this work, an energy simulation model has
been developed, which is able to investigate the
performance of a hybrid distributed power generation
system. The proposed configuration encompasses a fuel cell
based microCHP system, a lithium battery storage and a
photovoltaic (PV) system. The microCHP is based on a High
Temperature PEM fuel cell stack and a steam reforming fuel
processor. The overall system should satisfy electrical and
thermal power requirements for a typical single family
house. System parameters, such as electrical and thermal
energy production, import/export of electricity and primary
energy savings have been calculated and compared for
different system configurations. Results show that battery
integration can improve system performance while PV
integration allow to employ fuel cells with lower power
output.
