Operational strategies of networked fuel cells in residential homes

Residential fuel cells (FCs) have been recently launched in the commercial markets in Japan. The introduction of FCs in residential homes has become a realistic option. We previously proposed energy networks that enabled the interconnection of homes via electricity, heat, and hydrogen networks in order to allow consumers to interchange energy. Further, we have developed a PC-based simulator and an experimental system to evaluate the proposed energy networks. In this paper, analyses on the strategies of the electricity dispatch of FCs and their load sharing in the interconnected homes equipped with the energy networks were performed. The analyses were conducted with the experimental system, PC-based simulator, and a newly constructed mathematical model that optimizes the operation of the FCs with the minimization of both annual energy cost and CO₂ emission. The basic characteristics of FC stacks were obtained by experimentations, and these were stored in the PC-based simulator. Four different operational strategies were carried out for four FC stacks, and these strategies were compared. It was concluded from the results that the operational strategies, which have different advantages with regard to efficiency in electricity generation and heat recovery, should be applied depending on the seasonal demand variations