Research Article

Development of a stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) energy system with multi-storage units for sustainable power supply

Energy Commission of Nigeria, Plot 701C, Central Business District, P.M.B. 358, Garki, Abuja, Nigeria

^* e-mail: anayochukwu.vincent@gmail.com

Received: 2 August 2021
Received in final form: 6 June 2024
Accepted: 12 June 2024

Abstract

The sizing of the energy components is essentially designed to prevent outages and ensuring the reliability of the power supply. This paper focuses on the development of a stand-alone photovoltaic/battery/fuel cell power system considering the demand of load, generating power, and effective multi-storage strategy using a probabilistic sizing algorithm. A computer program was developed and used in the design of component sizing configuration of a stand-alone power system that comprises of a photovoltaic generator (PV), battery, water electrolyzer, a storage gas tank, a fuel cell, and an inverter for a reliable power supply. This program manages the energy flow through the various components of a stand-alone PV/battery/fuel cell power system and provide an optimal technical configuration. The optimum system configuration of a residential building with daily power demands of 69 kWh/day energy consumption is composed of PV arrays resulting in total rated power of 15 kW, 16 units of 6 V, 225 Ah battery bank, 5.5 kW fuel cell, 5.5 kW Water Electrolysis, 16.5 kg hydrogen tank, and a 5.5 kW inverter. Based on the simulation results conducted, it was shown that the sizing and development of a stand-alone PV/battery/FC energy system have been achieved with system reliability (loss of power supply equal to zero). This program could be used as a power monitoring and control system for a stand-alone PV/battery/fuel cell power system.