MICRO COMBINED HEAT AND POWER SYSTEM BASED ON HTPEM FUEL CELL AND LI-ION BATTERIES: ANALYSIS OF PERFORMANCE UNDER DIFFERENT OPERATING STRATEGIES

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