Design, testing and evaluation of a community hydrogen storage system for end user applications

A hydrogen community energy storage (H-CES) system including a PEM electrolyser, metal hydride tank and PEMFC unit was designed, built and tested for a low carbon community. The H-CES performs end user applications including PV energy time-shift and demand load shifting. The system proved to have good flexibility and capability for mid-term and long term energy storage, with a round trip efficiency of 52%. Mid-term energy storage was demonstrated when the H-CES performed demand load shifting and hydrogen was stored for use one day later. Additionally, when PV energy time-shift was added to demand load shifting the operational hours of the electrolyser increased by 116%. Some improvements for future H-CES systems are also discussed in this study, the consideration of the optimum electronic equipment for the technology and rating being considered a key factor to maximize the discharge rating, round trip efficiency and reliability. Copyright (C) 2016, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.