Technical, economic and environmental analysis of a hybrid CHP system with a 5 kW PEMFC, photovoltaic panels and batteries in the Brazilian scenario

• Published in: Energy conversion and management 2022-10, Vol.269, p.116042, Article 116042
• Main Authors: de Oliveira Gabriel, Renato, de Souza Laya Junior, Edson, Leal Braga, Sergio, Pradelle, Florian, Torres Serra, Eduardo, Coutinho Sobral Vieira, Cesar Luiz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: administrative management; economic sustainability; Emissions; energy conversion; environmental assessment; Fuel cell; fuel cells; heat; Hydrogen; mathematical models; Natural gas; Net present value; Reforming; solar energy; turbines
• ISSN: 0196-8904; 1879-2227
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2022.116042

•The work proposes a numerical simulation of an on-grid hybrid CHP system.•Up to 4 residential consumers, the CHP does not require importation from the grid.•Economic viability is more sensible to electricity cost than natural gas price.•Lower reverse metering factor increases the PEMFC operation, affecting the payback.•The hybrid system has emissions as low as 276.16 gCO2 eq/kWh for the best scenario. This work focuses on the numerical simulation of an on-grid hybrid combined heat and power (CHP) system to meet small residential demands, using natural gas and solar energy. The system includes a natural gas reformer, a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (FC), photovoltaic panels (PV) and batteries connected to the grid by a bidirectional inverter. The impact of four parameters in the economic viability are investigated: number of consumers, electric and natural gas tariffs evolution, reverse metering factor and configuration of the system (energy sources, with or without storage). The results showed that the system can feed up to 4 consumers without significantly purchasing energy from the grid. Also, the electric tariffs exert more influence than natural gas tariffs over the performance of the system in terms of net present value. Dealing with configuration aspect, the FC + PV configuration provided earlier payback predictions, since fewer equipment substitutions were required. Reverse metering factor impact on system’s final profit and payback estimation was verified just slight. As results of environmental analysis conducted for the operation of the system, it was shown that emissions as low as 276.5 gCO2eq/kWh are achievable for the FC + PV configuration with cogeneration, meaning a 61.5% reduction in comparison with gas microturbines technology.