Active/reactive energy control scheme for grid-connected fuel cell system with local inductive loads

In the grid interconnection of fuel cells, local reactive loads connected to the electrical systems generate reactive power which deteriorates the power factor in the utility-grids. This situation causes energy losses, excess electrical energy demand, overloading and bill penalties for consumers. In grid-connected fuel cells, conventional energy management methods are unable to compensate reactive powers in the utility-grid due to reactive loads. For this purpose, in the current study, a new energy management method is developed to reduce electrical energy demand with the elimination of reactive energy consumption from the electrical grid. In this regard, the developed method implemented in a grid-connected fuel cell power plant with reactive loads presents an effective way to prevent the demand charge penalties. In the performance stage, the electrical energy flow is analyzed in a single-phase system under different inductive load banks and compared to the conventional method in order to clarify the validity of the proposed control method. The case studies show that the proposed method based system can not only supply active power to consumers but also provides smooth power factor between grid voltage and current. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.