Characterization of an experimental bench for low-carbon hydrogen production, storage, and conversion

We present in this article simulations and experiments on the production, storage, and conversion into electricity of low-carbon hydrogen using solar panels, a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) hydrogen generator, and a PEM Fuel Cell (FC). The experimental configuration also includes backup electric storage (battery and supercapacitors) and is controlled and monitored using a homemade LabVIEW program. The present paper focuses on the static and dynamic characterization of the fuel cell. We present the I-V and power curves obtained numerically, using a MATLAB Simulink model, and experimentally and compare them to the ones provided in the FC specifications. We also compute, based on the experimental data, the efficiency of the FC when responding to a specific dynamic load and evaluate the effect of the ancillaries’ energy consumption on the device performances. We obtain a maximum measured efficiency of the FC of 60 percent.