Exergy analysis of an EFC/PV/Battery-based hybrid power generation system

Through the process design and simulation, an ethanol-fueled fuel cell (EFC)/photovoltaic (PV)/Battery-based hybrid power generation (HPG) system is developed as a feasible power generation system. The operational scenarios of each power unit for the daily manipulation of the HPG system are specified. The new heat recovery design is verified to improve the exergy efficiency of an EtOH-to-H-2 processor, so the integrated EFC power unit dominates the continuous power generation. Because the quality of energy utilization of the EFC unit is obviously improved, the low energy costs could enhance the commercial competitiveness of the proposed HPG system. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.