Power Management of a Hybrid Micro-Grid with Photovoltaic Production and Hydrogen Storage

Abstract

To deal with energy transition due to climate change and a rise in average global temperature, photovoltaic (PV) conversion appears to be a promising technology in sunny regions. However, PV production is directly linked with weather conditions and the day/night cycle, which makes it intermittent and random. Therefore, it makes sense to combine it with Energy Storage Systems (ESS) to ensure long-term energy availability for non-interconnected micro-grids. Among all technological solutions, electrolytic hydrogen produced by renewable energies seems an interesting candidate. In this context, this paper proposes a control strategy dedicated to hydrogen storage integration in micro-grids for a better use of PV production. The objective is to optimize the management of the micro-grid with proton exchange membrane Fuel Cell (FC), alkaline Electrolyzer (El), lithium-ion Batteries Energy Storage System (BESS) and PV, according to the system state and PV production intermittency. First, a control strategy based on a Distributed explicit Model Predictive Control (DeMPC) is developed to define current references for FCs, Els and batteries. Secondly, the performance of the control strategy is validated in simulation and confirmed on a Power-Hardware-in-the-Loop test bench.