Optimal sizing of a wind, fuel cell, electrolyzer, battery and supercapacitor system for off-grid applications

This paper is focused on the determination of an optimal configuration of a system consisting of a wind turbine, a PEM fuel cell, an alkaline electrolyzer, a battery and a supercapacitor bank in an off-grid application. The wind generator is used as the main source while the supercapacitor, battery, fuel cell and electrolyzer are back-up energy sources. This hybrid system should be able to supply the energetics needs of a residential household while keeping the system costs as low as possible. The aim of this paper is determining an optimal configuration set regarding the system total annual cost and its energetic reliability. The total annual cost consists of the annualized capital cost, the annual maintenance cost and the annual replacement cost. The energy reliability is based on Loss of Power Supply Probability (LPSP). The Non-dominated Sorted Genetic Algorithm (NSGAII) is used to find the best configuration of the whole set of subsystems. The total annual cost sensitivity with the changes of wind speed profile, subsystem prices, is also discussed. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.