Integrating Non - Conventional Energy Sources to Supply a Local Load with Fuel Cell as Backup System

177  Abstract—The electrical energy is distributed worldwide by overhead transmission lines or cables from generating stations. However, power systems are still needed at locations which are isolated or far from electrical energy suppliers. Renewable energy resources in micro-grid power systems are interesting topics of recent research as environmental pollution and scarcity of energy resources come to the fore. Moreover the integration of renewable energy systems (RESs) in smart grids (SGs) is a tough task, mainly due to the intermittent, varying and unpredictable nature of the sources, typically wind or sun due to changing weather conditions throughout the year. Sometimes there are low wind speeds and lesser sunny conditions and therefore power generation by solar and wind energy is reduced. This paper proposes a system in which solar and wind energy is integrated with fuel cell to provide a continuous power supply to a small local load to enhance reliability of power supply. Here PV and wind energy is used as the primary source of power with the fuel cell section acting as a current source, feeding only the deficit power. The proposed system is analyzed with a case study using MATLAB. Index Terms Fuel Cell Backup System, Micro-Grid, Renewable Energy Sources, Solar Energy, Wind Energy.