international journal of hydrogen energy 35 (2010) 33223332

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Sizing of photovoltaic system coupled with hydrogen/oxygen

storage based on the ORIENTE model
C. Darras a, S. Sailler a, C. Thibault a, M. Muselli a,*, P. Poggi a, J.C. Hoguet b, S. Melscoet b,
E. Pinton c, S. Grehant c, F. Gailly d,e, C. Turpin d,e, S. Astier d,e, G. Fonte`s d,e
a

University of Corsica, UMR CNRS SPE 6134, Route des Sanguinaires, F-20000 Ajaccio, France
HELION Hydrogen Power, Domaine du Petit Arbois Batiment Jules Verne, BP 71, 13545 Aix en Provence, France
c
Commissariat a` lEnergie Atomique (CEA/LITEN), 17 rue des Martyrs, 38 054 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
d
Universite de Toulouse, INP, UPS, LAPLACE (Laboratoire Plasma et Conversion dEnergie), ENSEEIHT, 2 rue Charles Camichel, BP 7122,
F-31071 Toulouse Cedex 7, France
e
CNRS, LAPLACE, F-31071 Toulouse, France
b

article info

abstract

Article history:

PEPITE is a project funded by the French ANR PAN-H research program. This project

Received 23 September 2009

concerns, among various other tasks, a demonstration of a weather station electricity

Received in revised form

supply with help of a PV/FC/EL hybrid system located at the CEA center of Cadarache

17 January 2010

(France). To design a relevant sizing for this demonstration system, a complete sizing tool

Accepted 17 January 2010

has been developed via a new numerical optimizing code named ORIENTE. It uses Matlab

Available online 26 February 2010

software based on sequential running time.

Keywords:

a PEM electrolyzer, batteries, storage tanks for H2, O2 and H2O, as well as associated

Renewable energy

converters. This paper presents the obtained optimal sizing curves for the hybrid system

Photovoltaic hybrid system

(Ppv [kWp], QH2 max [kg]) by taking into account the predefined constant load (6.5 kW)

Fuel cell

functioning 24/24 hours and the system energy balance for a loss-of-load probability

Electrolyzer

LLP 0. These results give the sizes of each subsystem and will make possible to build the

Hydrogen

best energy flows control mode.

The demonstration system will be composed of a PV array, a PEM fuel cell system and

2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Oxygen

1.

Introduction

The future belongs to renewable energy sources, and satisfying

the energy growing demand for sustainable energy sources must
be one of the highest priorities for research in the energy field.
The systems based on these sources have a limited
ecologic impact because they only use hydrogen and solar
energy. The solutions based on renewable energy source are

very promising when it comes to supply energy to isolated

sites, with problems related to their location. In the past three
decades, a rather continuous research has been conducted on
this topic. Concerning hydrogen-based solutions, the objectives are not only to improve the performances of hydrogen
production and storage solutions, but also to associate them
effectively with renewable energy sources. Several projects
were carried out around the world with such hybrid systems:

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 33 4 95 52 41 30; fax: 33 4 95 52 41 42.

E-mail addresses: darras@univ-corse.fr (C. Darras), sailler@univ-corse.fr (S. Sailler), thibault@univ-corse.fr (C. Thibault),
marc.muselli@univ-corse.fr (M. Muselli), philippe.poggi@univ-corse.fr (P. Poggi), jean-christophe.hoguet@helion-fuelcells.com (J.C.
Hoguet), sandrine.melscoet@helion-fuelcells.com (S. Melscoet), eric.pinton@cea.fr (S. Pinton), sebastien.grehant@cea.fr (S. Grehant),
gailly@laplace.univ-tlse.fr (F. Gailly), turpin@laplace.univ-tlse.fr (C. Turpin), astier@laplace.univ-tlse.fr (S. Astier), fontes@laplace.
univ-tlse.fr (G. Fonte`s).
0360-3199/$ see front matter 2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.01.060

international journal of hydrogen energy 35 (2010) 33223332

Nomenclature
consumption of electrolyzers auxiliaries,
dependent on the absorbed power by the
electrolyzer, %
%FC Aux consumption of fuel cells auxiliaries, dependent
on the supplied power by the fuel cell, %
converter efficiency at 10% nominal power
h10
(manufacturer curve), %
converter efficiency at 100% nominal power
h100
(manufacturer curve), %
DC/AC converter efficiency, %
hDCAC
hDCDC EL electrolyzer converter efficiency, %
hDCDC FC fuel cell converter efficiency, %
hDCDC PV PV converter efficiency, %
Faraday efficiency for the electrolyzer, %
hF EL
Faraday efficiency for the fuel cell, %
hF FC
losses from the vacuums (load independent),
ho
CEL Aux constant consumption of electrolyzers auxiliaries,
W
CFC Aux constant consumption of fuel cells auxiliaries, W
F
Faradays constant, 96485 C mol1
C
FH2
hydrogen consumption rate, mol h1
C
FH2 O
water consumption rate, mol h1
FCO2
oxygen consumption rate, mol h1
FPH2
hydrogen production rate, mol h1
P
FH2 O
water production rate, mol h1
P
FO2
oxygen production rate, mol h1
GI
solar irradiation (45 tilted), W m2
IEL
electrolyzer current (JEL SEL ), A
fuel cell current (JFC :SFC ), A
IFC
electrolyzer current density, A/cm2
JEL
JFC
fuel cell current density, A/cm2
LH2
hydrogen losses in the storage, mol h1
LO2
oxygen losses in the storage, mol h1
%EL

Aux

the FIRST-project was a photovoltaic-hydrogen stand-alone

power system for telecommunication application in Spain [1].
The functioning is the following: solar energy is used, with
short-term energy storage (batteries park), during most parts
of the year. Only during long periods of low solar radiation,
when the state-of-charge of the batteries becomes very low,
the fuel cell starts its operation as an additional system to
supply the telecom equipment. The HARI (Hydrogen and
Renewable Integration, UK) investigated methods to store the
energy generated by intermittent renewable sources through
hydrogen [24]. Kelly et al. [5] propose a scenario in which
individual home-owners, businesses, or sites at remote locations with no grid electricity, can capture solar energy, store it
as hydrogen generated via water electrolysis, or as electrical
energy used to charge storage batteries. Such a decentralized
energy system provides a home refueling option for drivers
who only travel limited distances each day. The objectives of
SAPHYS (Stand Alone Photovoltaic Hydrogen System) project
were to assess the efficiency of hydrogen used as a storage
medium for solar electric energy, and to design and test
a stand-alone system for unattended operation [1]. The Schatz
Solar Hydrogen Project was a stand-alone PV energy system at

3323

m
NEL
NFC

converters resistive losses constant,

number of electrolyzer cells (series association)
number of cells for the fuel cell stack (series
association)
number of modules of the PV array
NPV
electrolyzer input power, W
PEL
PEL Aux power consumption of electrolyzers auxiliaries,
W
PEL DCDC electrolyzer converter input power, W
fuel cell output power, W
PFC
PFC Aux power consumption of fuel cells auxiliaries, W
PFC DCDC fuel cell converter output power, W
load consumption, W
PLoad
PV array output power, W
PMPPT
PMPPT DCDC PV converter output power, W
nominal power of converter, W
PN
converter output power, W
PS
state hydrogen storage, mol
QH2
QH2 max maximum hydrogen storage, mol
PV peak power installed, kWp
PPV
state water storage, mol
QH2 O
QH2 Omax maximum water storage, mol
state oxygen storage, mol
QO2
QO2 max maximum oxygen storage, mol
active area of a single electrolyzer cell, cm2
SEL
SFC
active area of a single fuel cell, cm2
H2
S
H2 stoichiometry,
H2 O stoichiometry,
SH2 O
O2 stoichiometry,
SO2
ambient temperature,  C
TA
operation threshold of the electrolyzer, W
THREL
operation threshold of the fuel cell, W
THRFC
module temperature of PV array,  C
Tm
electrolyzer voltage, V
VEL
fuel cell voltage, V
VFC

the Humboldt State University (HSU), which used hydrogen as

the energy storage medium and a PEM fuel cell as the regeneration technology, between 1989 and 1996 [610]. One of the
most impressive projects is PHOEBUS (electrical energy used
to supply a part of the Central Library in Forschungszerntrum
Julich, Germany) which was carried out from 1993 to 2003
[11,12]. This project was devoted to stationary and standalone applications. This kind of project can be used as
a basis for comparison regarding the richness of results and
conclusions collected during these ten years. The technical
feasibility of a self-sufficient energy-supply system based on
solar energy, battery, and hydrogen storage was demonstrated. The PHOEBUS project proved that an electrical energy
generated by a purely renewable source without connection to
the public grid was possible. At last, the MYRTE Project
(Mission hYdrogen Renewable for the inTegration to the
Electrical network) has as main goal the decrease of daily load
peaks on the case of an insular electric network (Corsica
Island, France) by using a PV/FC/EL renewable energy system.
Recently Ipsakis [13] has reported some results from
a complete renewable system at Neo Olvio of Xanthi in Greece.
This application uses a stand-alone power system based on

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international journal of hydrogen energy 35 (2010) 33223332

a PV array and wind generators that stores excessive energy

from renewable energy sources in the form of hydrogen via
water electrolysis for a future use (i.e. PEM fuel cell).
PEPITE (study and experimentation of intermittent energy
management using electrochemical technologies) is a project
endorsed by the French PAN-H research program (action plan
on hydrogen and fuel cell) supported by ANR (French Research
National Agency). This project started in January 2008 for
a three-year duration. The aim of the project is to evaluate
different system architectures and energy management
strategies for hybrid systems based on renewable energy
sources coupled with hydrogen for different applications. The
system is composed of a PV array, an electrolyzer (PEM), a fuel
cell (PEM), batteries, gas and water storage solutions, and also
an electrical architecture to couple the whole system and the
load. Finally the interest of this project is to propose and to
evaluate solutions for isolated sites or for grid-connected
applications supplied by PV/FC/EL system. In this project,
the sizing of each sub-system has to guarantee an optimal
system efficiency. An exclusive sizing tool based on a numerical optimizing code named ORIENTE (Optimization of
Renewable Intermittent Energies with Hydrogen for Autonomous Electrification) was developed under Matlab software,
and assumes sequentially running time. A weather station
located in Cadarache (CEA, France) will represent the load
which will be supplied by the designed PV/FC/EL hybrid
system for the demonstration.
A few articles deal with the modelling of sub-systems of
a PV/FC/EL system [1416]. Chun-Hua Li et al. [16] proposed
different sizing tools to optimize a PV/FC/EL hybrid system and
also to get the configuration with the lowest cost, the highest
efficiency, and the less PV modules. Sonia et al. [18] studied the

possibility to introduce an additional power generation by

a fuel cell into a photovoltaic-wind existing plant for supplying
a Telecommunication apparatus. An original study concerns
the sizing optimization of a stand-alone streetlight powered by
a hybrid system using a fuel cell, a PV, and a battery [19] from an
economical interesting point of view.
In our case, the demonstration system (Fig. 1) will be
composed by a PV array, a PEM fuel cell and PEM electrolyzer
with their auxiliaries, batteries, storage tanks for H2, O2 and
H2O, and associated converters. In this hybrid system,
batteries are transparent energetically at normal functioning.
They remain nevertheless indispensable for the immediate
exchanges of power. They are also used in normal regime to
maintain the potential of the BUS, to assure the start-up/stop
in correct conditions and finally to smooth the electrical
power from the fuel cell and the electrolyzer systems. They
have to be in charge before the functioning of the system.
A fully description of the batteries management will be
reported in a future paper. In this article, batteries are not
used as means of storage (in opposition with other projects or
they are considered like a short-term energy storage), but they
must be sized regarding smoothing of electrical power. Thus,
for our project, hydrogen is used as means of short and longterm storage too.
The load that must be fed by the energy system is represented by a meteorological station (weather pylon) with the
consumption of its control command sub-system, the thermal
management of the PV/FC/EL system, and the gas storages
auxiliaries, corresponding to 6500 W of constant power operating 24/24 hours.
The global hourly solar radiation (45 tilted) and ambient
temperature data were measured (local time), a few meters

Fig. 1 Representation of the studied PV/H2 hybrid system: __: Possible electrical flows; - -: Fluid flows.

international journal of hydrogen energy 35 (2010) 33223332

away from the weather station of Cadarache (France). These

data are available from the 1st July 2002 to the 30 June 2003
(8760 hours). From these data, monthly means of hourly
values are represented (Fig. 2) only computed on sunshine
periods.
The output results of the optimization will be given for
each subsystem, as well as the maximum power, the energy
production and consumption (energy balance), the operation
duration, the efficiencies, the cover rate and all the couples
(PPV/QH2 max ) leading to a loss-of-load probability LLP 0.
In opposition to a classical reference software available in
the literature such as the TRNSYS software (only dynamic
simulation where all parameters are fixed), ORIENTE offers
the possibility to size (simulation and optimization) hybrid
PVH2 sub-systems for given specific meteorological and load
profiles (global hourly solar radiation, ambient temperature,
and load) taking into account the characteristics of the system
components.

Table 1 Photovoltaic module parameter values

(SUNTECH STP175S-24/AC).
Parameters

Name
Module power variation coefficient with
temperature [W  C1]
Reference solar irradiation [W m2]
Normal operating cell temperature [ C]
PV module maximum power [W]
Module temperature at standard
conditions [ C]

mP
GRI
NOCT
PMax
Tom

FCH2 SH2

PV array model

The model considers that the PV array works always at its

maximum power point for a given temperature and irradiance
conditions [2022]:
PMPPT

NOCT  20
800

(1)

(2)

Table 1 gives the photovoltaic module parameter values.

2.2.

FCO2

1000
48
175
25

(3)

PEM fuel cell model

The fuel cell, which is of proton exchange membrane (PEM)

technology, as well as their technical characteristics, has been
supplied by the company HELION Hydrogen Power. In view of
our step of time, we neglect the phenomena of rise in
temperature and in pressure because they take place only

3600NFC IFC 1
2F
hF FC

SO2 C
F
2SH2 H2

FPH2 O

where
Tm TA GI

0.0048

The H2/O2 consumption and water production were calculed according to Faradays law [17,20,23]:

2.
Modelling of the individual system
components



GI 
NPV R PMax mP Tm  Tom
GI

Value

during the first minutes of stack operation. We consider that

the FC is regulated, thus that the temperature and the pressure of the stack are constant in time.
The electrical power output of the fuel cell is calculated
using the VI curve:
PFC VFC JFC NFC SFC

2.1.

3325

(4)

(5)

3600NFC IFC 1
2F
hF FC

(6)

Stoichiometric ratios SH2 and SO2 are equal to 1.01 [24]. The
value of hF FC is generally fixed at 0.99 [20]. The equation that
describes the auxiliaries consumption is [24]:
PFC

Aux

CFC

Aux

%FC

Aux PFC

(7)

For the auxiliaries power consumption, we consider

CFC Aux 50W and %EL Aux 20% [24].
The fuel cell has a power threshold below which its operation
is stopped (THRFC 5% of the nominal FC power installed)
because the FC undergoes damages should it fall below the limit.
The batteries (which are considered as transparent in this
paper) will assure the system operation to a certain limit
depending on their sizing, when the power required by the load
for the fuel cell is under this power threshold.

2.3.

PEM electrolyzer model

For the PEM electrolyzer, its technical characteristics have

been supplied by the company HELION Hydrogen Power. In
view of our choice of step of time, we neglect the phenomena
of rise in temperature and in pressure because they take place
only during the first minutes of stack operation. We consider
that the electrolyzer is regulated, thus that the temperature of
the stack and its pressure are constant in time. The VI curves
of the fuel cell and the electrolyzer are presented in Fig. 3.
The electrical power output of the electrolyzer is calculated
using the VI curve.
Fig. 2 Meteorological data monthly mean: grey bar:
global solar radiation; LDL: ambient temperature.

PEL VEL JEL NEL SEL

(8)

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international journal of hydrogen energy 35 (2010) 33223332

h
i
QH2 O t Dt QH2 O t FPH2 O t  FCH2 O t Dt

(16)

The values of LH2 and LO2 are 2.5 mol/h (corresponds to a 0.01 %
loss a month, of the maximal quantity which can be contained
in the tank). This value corresponds to an objective for this
project.

2.5.

Converter model

DC/DC and DC/AC converter efficiencies are calculated by the

following way [2022,25]:


Fig. 3 VI curve: __: Fuel cell; - -: Electrolyzer.

hDCDC
hDCAC

The H2/O2 production and water consumption is computed

according to Faradays law [17,20,23]:

where

FPH2

3600NEL IEL
hF
2F

(9)

FPO2 FPH2 =2
FCH2 O SH2 O

(10)

3600NEL IEL
hF
2F

EL

(11)

where [17,23]:



hF

EL

96:5e

0:09IEL 75:5I2EL

(12)

The equation that describes the auxiliaries consumption

(cooling, purification, regulation, pumps of circulation.) is
[24]:
PEL

Aux

CEL

Aux

%EL

Aux PEL

(13)

The stoechiometric ratio SH2 O is equal to 1.05 [24]. For the

auxiliaries power consumption, we consider CEL Aux 1840W
and %EL Aux 17:6% [24]
The electrolyzer has a power threshold under which its
operation is stopped (THREL 25% of the nominal flow). In the
same way as for the fuel cell, the batteries (which are
considered as transparent in this paper) will assure the
system operation in a certain limit depending on their sizing,
when an extra PV power to be stored will be under this power
threshold.

2.4.

3.

 

 2 
PS
PS
ho m
PN
PN


10
1

9
99
h10 h100

(17)

1
 ho  1
h100

(18)

(19)

Flow control

Fig. 4 describes the proposed flow control.

The PV array supplies in priority the load via the DC/AC
converter. In the case of an excess of PV power (above the
power threshold of the electrolyzer) and a non-full hydrogen
storage, this extra power will be transferred to the electrolyzer
via its DC/DC converter. If the electrolyzer cannot absorb it
(under the power threshold or full storage) then the transparent batteries could absorb it to a certain limit depending of
their sizing. And if the batteries are full, then the PV array is
totally shut down. When the PV array is not able to satisfy the
load power, the fuel cell supplies the complementary amount
of power. If the power required for the fuel cell is under its
power threshold or if the gas storage is empty, the transparent batteries could supply it to a certain limit depending of
their sizing. And if the batteries are fully discharged, then the
system is shut down.This last case should not happen because
we size exactly the system to avoid this scenario. Nevertheless,
it is necessary for the electric safety of the system.

4.

Storage H2/O2/H2O

PS
PN


ho

EL

Optimization method

We consider that all the H2/O2 production (by the electrolyzer)

is sent to two storage tanks and all the H2/O2 consumption (by
the fuel cell) comes from these storage tanks. The process is
similar for H2O. The losses in the storage H2/O2 are respectively defined by LH2 and LO2 . The quantity in each storage tank
is defined by the following equations:

For an optimization of the system components, ORIENTE uses

the hourly weather data (solar radiation and ambient
temperature) and the hourly load profile. The internal parameters of each sub-system are already in the model, with the
possibility to modify them. The optimization follows this way:

h
i
p
QH2 t Dt QH2 t FH2 t  FcH2 t  LH2 Dt

(14)

i
h
QO2 t Dt QO2 t FPO2 t  FCO2 t  LO2 Dt

(15)

(1) We define minimum and maximum PV powers, with corresponding to numbers of modules.
(2) DC/DC converter associated to PV array is sized according
to the maximum power that able to deliver (according to
the number of modules).

international journal of hydrogen energy 35 (2010) 33223332

3327

Fig. 4 Proposed flow control.

(3) Fuel cell is sized according to the maximum power that the
load can need, by considering efficiencies of the converter
associated to the FC, the DC/AC converter, and the auxiliaries consumption. By using the active area of an elementary
fuel cell and the operation potential on VI curve (maximal

Fig. 5 Optimization sizing curves (1 year period): L  L:

H2 quantity [kg]; L>L :O2 quantity [kg]. On the right of
the figure, we plot a zoom of the H2 curve for a better
reading.

voltage on the curve which we wish that the FC can work).

The optimized parameter is the number of elementary cells
in series. It gives us the FC power to be installed. The DC/DC
converter associated to the FC and the DC/AC converter are
sized according to the maximum power to be delivered.

Fig. 6 H2 consumption (L>L) and production (L  L)

curves in kg (1 year period).

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international journal of hydrogen energy 35 (2010) 33223332

Fig. 7 Hydrogen and oxygen simulation curves (1 year period) (a), (b), (c): Hydrogen and oxygen progress inside the storage
in function of time for the given Ppv _: Hydrogen quantity [kg]; - -: Oxygen quantity [kg] (a0 ), (b0 ), (c0 ): Hydrogen distribution
(%), step 10%.

(4) The electrolyzer is sized according to the maximum excess

power that the PV can produce, by considering the efficiencies of the converter associated to the electrolyzer, the
DC/AC converter, and the auxiliaries consumption. By
using the active area of an elementary electrolyzer cell and
the operation current on VI curve (maximal potential on
the curve which we wish that the electrolyzer can work).
The optimized parameter is the number of elementary
electrolyzer cells in series. It gives us the electrolyzer
power to be installed. The DC/DC converter associated to
the electrolyzer is sized at the same time according to the
maximum power to be absorbed.
The system sizing starts with the minimum number of PV
modules. For each step, the number of PV modules is
increased (2) and sequences (3) and (4) are repeated.

For each simulation, the size of storage tanks H2/O2/H2O is

equal to the value of the maximum amplitude of designed
parameters (respectively QH2 , QO2 and QH2 O ). Each of these
parameters has a maximum limit (QH2 max , QO2 max , QH2 Omax )
defined before the optimization.
At the beginning of every simulation, we have QH2 QH2 max ,
QO2 QO2 max and QH2 O 0.

5.

Results

Fig. 5 represents the optimization curves of the PV/FC/EL

system (PPV, QH2 max and PPV, QO2 max ). Coherently, the higher
the installed Ppv power is, the lower the size of the gas storage
tank for the required autonomy (the range of the hydrogen
amount is between 3725 kg and 398 kg for an installed PV

international journal of hydrogen energy 35 (2010) 33223332

3329

Fig. 10 Load cover rate curves (1 year period): L>L: by

the fuel cell; L  L : by the PV.

Fig. 8 Water curves (1 year period) (a): L>L: Water

consumption [m3]; L  L : Water production [m3]; LDL :
Size of water storage tank [m3]. (b): Water volume evolution
inside the storage tank for PPV [ 262.675 kWp [m3].

power respectively equal to 0 and to 131.425 kW, and 398 kg to

125 kg for a PV power between 131.425 and 350.175 kW).
Autonomy of the system is affected when the load is always
fed, whether it is by the photovoltaic or by the fuel cell. This
figure can be divided into two parts. The limit is the point
where the PV power is such as the system consumes and
produces the same amount (Fig. 6). When PPV 131.425 kWp,
about 2050 kg of H2 are both produced and consumed. In the
first area (Area 1), the system is unsustainable. Operating
a second year with the same sizing and the same load and the

Fig. 9 Operating relative time curves (1 year period):

L>L: Electrolyzer; L  L : Fuel cell.

same meteorological profile would require a gas refueling to

be sustainable. Beyond the line (Area 2), the system is
sustainable and the gas storage would never be empty. The
division line is placed where the system is sustainable with
the lowest installed PV power. Fig. 7 shows the evolution of
gas for a fixed PV power, in the area 1 (Fig. 7a) and 2 (Fig. 7c),
and for the intersection of them (Fig. 7b). This figure also
represents the hydrogen distribution in the storage during the
simulations (Fig. 7a0 ,c0 ). The higher the installed PV power is,
the less the amount of H2 in storage tank fluctuates (for a PV
power equal to 43.925, 131.425 and 262.675 kWp, H2 volume
distributions present very important different profiles
(amplitude and shape)).
Fig. 8(A) presents the evolution of the consumption, the
production and the necessary size of water volume to obtain
the total system autonomy in relation to the installed PV
power. At the beginning of this curve (so far PPV 70 kWp), the
fuel cell (in opposition to the electrolyzer) operates a lot and
produces a huge amount of water (up to 33.5 m3). So the
storage is low (near 0 m3 so far PPV 70 kWp). We can show
that the nearer the sustainable threshold we are
(PPV 131.425 kWp), the more water the electrolyzer uses
(about 19.4 m3), and the size of water storage tank increases
(maximum 4 m3 at the sustainable threshold). When the
threshold is exceeded, the electrolyzer consumes less energy

Fig. 11 Energy flow curves (1 year period) LDL: PV

energy not used; L  L : Electrolyzed energy; L>L :
Fuel cell energy.

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international journal of hydrogen energy 35 (2010) 33223332

and the size of the water storage decreases to an asymptotic

value (1.6 m3). Fig. 8(B) shows the evolution of water volume
for a PV installed power of 131.425 kWp.
The fuel cell relative operation time (corresponding to the
FC operation time divided by the number of hours when the
load consumes) and the electrolyzer relative operation time
(electrolyzer operation time divided by the number of hours of
sunshine) are represented in the Fig. 9 according to the
installed PV power. The electrolyzer does not operate at the
beginning of the curve (installed PV power being too low), but
when the installed PV power increases, it reaches a maximum
of 48.4% of the total time, and then decreases to 43.3% at the
sustainability limit. The fuel cell continually operates at the
beginning of the curve, but strongly decreases until
PPV 52.675 kWp. Then it slowly decreases and finally stagnates (as the installed PV power increases).
Fig. 10 shows the cover rate of the load (energy receives by
the load from the PV or FC with regard to the total load
consumption). The fuel cell supplies all the load energy when
the installed PV power is considered as very low. In the other
cases, the fuel cell supplies less energy when the installed PV
power increases. Finally we observe an asymptotic behaviour
(up to 52% of the time) due to the choice of the 24/24 h profile.
Fig. 11 represents a few various energy flows through the
system. The energy from the fuel cell strongly decreases up to
52.675 MWh, then a slow decrease is observed. The more the
installed PV power increases, the more the electrolyzer
absorbs energy (so far 116.57 MWh). The energy slowly
decreases after reaching the sustainability limit. The loss of
PV production increases strongly after the sustainability
limit is reach (47.221 MWh for this power), then continues to
increase linearly. At last, Table 2 summarizes results for an

installed PV power of 131.425 kWp which corresponds to the

optimized sustainable system.

6.

Discussion

First of all, by using ORIENTE, we can determine energy and

power flows into the PV/FC/EL system. Moreover, our tool
makes possible to determine the necessary PV power needed
to obtain a sustainable system. In this work we obtain a value
of 131.425 kWp. Hydrogen (respectively oxygen) storage
needed around 398.2 kg, (respectively 1592.9 kg) is important. Increasing PV power allows to decrease the gas storage
volume. In the case of an installed photovoltaic power of
262.675 kWp (2 times the sustainable one) the hydrogen
storage is less than 205 kg. Fig. 6 shows that the increase of the
installed PV power does not change gas consumption or
production. It increases only the loss of PV production, as
shown in Fig. 11. In the other hand, Fig. 7 shows that gas
storage is mainly used during winter period (between 4176
and 6336 hours because we begin the simulation in July).
To reduce the gas storage volume, a seasonal load profile
would be more efficient than a constant annual load profile.
Limiting the energy demand in winter, depending on load
flexibility, would help. We could also authorize hours of
failure of the system (LLP s 0). To decrease PV production
losses, it seems important to adapt the initial amount of gas at
the system start-up. A full storage start-up just before
summer leads to a waste of energy.
Finally, energy flows allow to determine the converters
efficiencies. In these works, good power conversion efficiencies from 84.0% to 94.1% are obtained. H2-chain presents an

Table 2 Summary of results for an installed PV power of 131.425 kWp.

PV energy usable [MWh]
Loss of PV production [MWh]

240.672
47.221

DC/DC converter nominal power associated to the PV [kW]

146.508

Losses of the DC/DC converter associated to the PV [MWh]

16.109

DC/DC converter mean efficiency associated to the PV [%]

Electrolyzer nominal power [kW]
Electrolyzed energy [MWh]
DC/DC converter nominal power associate to
electrolyzer [kW]
Losses of the DC/DC converter associated to the
electrolyzer [MWh]
DC/DC converter mean efficiency associated to the
electrolyzer [%]
Hydrogen production total [kg]
Oxygen production total [kg]
Water consumption total [m3]
Consumption of the electrolyzers auxiliaries compared
with electrolyzed energy [%]
Electrolyzer operation time [hours and %]
Fuel cell nominal power [kW]
Energy produced by the fuel cell [MWh]

84.0
100.620
116.570
108.193
7.272
94.1
2050.3
8201.4
19.37
20.78
2017; 43.3
10.579
46.844

DC/DC converter nominal power associated to the

fuel cell [kW]
Losses of the DC/DC converter associated to the
fuel cell [MWh]
DC/DC converter mean efficiency associated to the
fuel cell [%]
Consumption of the fuel cells auxiliaries compared
with energy produced by the fuel cell [%]
Fuel cell operation time [hours and %]
Hydrogen consumption total [kg]
Oxygen consumption total [kg]
Water production total [m3]
Maximum hydrogen storage [kg]
Maximum oxygen storage [kg]

10.580
2.963
93.6
20.56
5266; 60.1
2052.5
8210.1
18.47
398.2
1592.9

Maximum water storage [m3]

Energy consumed by the load [MWh]
DC/AC converter nominal power [kW]
DC/AC converter mean efficiency [%]

4.05
56.946
20.010
94.0

Load cover rate by the PV [%]

Load cover rate by the fuel cell [%]
Load cover rate by the battery [%]

44.35
55.64
0.01

international journal of hydrogen energy 35 (2010) 33223332

efficiency of 35.4% which is relatively good by considering

efficiency of the fuel cell and the electrolyzer (about 60%).
In our system, it was decided not to use gas compressors.
This implies that gases will be stored at electrolyzers output
pressure. Therefore, the number of gas bottles will increase
inducing an extra cost. But choosing to operate with
compressors (high energy consumer) would change the global
sizing of the system increasing the components size and their
cost. A cost study to determine the best choice is being
achieved.

7.

Conclusion

In this work, we used a new code named ORIENTE with the

aim to study PV/FC/EL system. We showed that we are able to
determine a sustainable point for such a system in terms of
sizing. Moreover, ORIENTE makes it possible to describe in
details the energy exchanges within such a complex system.
A 24/24 hours system needs huge components, so an
economic study will be necessary in order to know if the
system cost and if such a configuration are economically
acceptable. Moreover the estimation of efficiencies showed
that electrical power handled by power electronics induces
relatively weak losses compared with the hydrogen chain. In
the other hand, the hydrogen chain handles energy which
would be lost if it was not valorized. This study is currently
continuing to evaluate the economic part and the interest of
a hydrogen chain at this power level compared with storage
via batteries alone. To decrease the size of components, we
envisage a LLP > 0. Typically, we will authorize a system
failure for LLP values in the range 0.1 to 10% of time with
regard to the whole period of system functioning. A fully
description will be reported in a future paper.

Acknowledgments
This work is partially funded by the French Research Agency
(ANR PAN-H program) within the frame work of the PEPITE
project (reference ANR-07-PANH-012). First-author Christophe
Darras was financially supported by the Collectivite Territoriale de Corse (CTC).

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