High efficiency energy supply in residential sector using Fuel Cells

Abstract

Increasing the overall efficiency of power generation systems has become a priority of research in the field of energy. In this sense, a conventional thermal power plant is able to convert around 33% of the energy contained in the primary fuel into electricity. The rest of the unused energy corresponds to energy dissipated as heat. By contrast, the overall efficiency of polygeneration systems is within 80-90% of fuel utilization. This combined production of heat-cold and electricity can be applied in the residential, industrial and service sectors.

Considering the increase in energy efficiency that cogeneration involves, this paper presents an analysis of the possibilities of PEM fuel cells for cogeneration applications. To do this, a set of experimental measurements on a real fuel cell (PEM HP600) has been developed, in order to identify its electrical and thermal aspects, for different loading rates.