PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF A SOLAR/WIND/FUEL CELL BASED HYBRID POWER GENERATION SYSTEM FOR STABLE POWER DELIVERY

The electric utility industry is expanding continuously owing to rapid increase in population, economic growth as well as industrial developments. To meet the increasing load demand, it is essential to increase the generation capacity. For building a sustainable and eco-friendly energy economy in the future years, the alternative energy sources are perceived as a promising solution. A variety of energy sources with converters necessary to be incorporated for getting optimum utilization of the renewable energy to accommodate sustained load demands in the course of fluctuating natural conditions. This paper presents the design, dynamic modeling and simulation of a solar/ wind/Fuel Cell(FC) grid based hybrid power generation system for sustained power generation. This hybrid system comprises of a photovoltaic generation system, a wind generation system, and a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) based system. Multiple source of energy is controlled and switched with the aid of an intelligent control algorithm, which optimizes load demand, economy and efficiency. The entire system is simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK platform.