Sizing and Economic Analysis of Standalone PEM Fuel Cell Systems for Residential Utilization

This study discusses the economic utilization of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) based on cost of energy (COE) to supply residential electrical and thermal loads. The fuel cell system is sized using simplified mathematical expressions considering the stack degradation and the system salvage value at the end of its life time. The study is based on a 5 kWh/day residential loads with a peak load power of 1300W. Two scenarios for economic survey are studied. The first scenario is to find the commercial price for each FC component considering that the supply fuel is hydrogen. The other scenario is for a complete FC system commercial price considering that the supply fuel is natural gas. The economic analyses are based on the actual sale prices in the market. The COE of the fuel cell system is compared with previous work by the authors for the same residential ratings but supplied from a stand-alone photo voltaic system (SAPV). The analysis results show that the COE relies heavily on the capital cost of the system