Author(s)

Akira Nishimura¹, Satoshi Kitagawa¹, Masafumi Hirota¹, Eric Hu²

¹Division of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Mie University, Tsu, Japan.
²School of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.

A building integrated photovoltaic (PV) and fuel cell (FC) system is proposed for assessment of the energy self-sufficiency rate in a city in Japan. The electricity consumed in the building is mainly supplied by solar panels, while the gap between the energy demand and supply is solved by the FC that is powered by the H2 produced by water electrolysis with surplus power of PV. A desktop case study of using the proposed system in Tsu city which is located in central part of Japan, has been conducted. The results found that the self-sufficiency rates of PV system to electricity demand of households (RPV) during the daytime in April and July are higher than those in January and October. The results also reveal that the self-sufficiency rate of FC system to the electricity demand (RFC) is 15% - 38% for the day when the mean amount of horizontal solar radiation is obtained in January, April, July and October. In addition, it is found the optimum tilt angle of solar panel installed on the roof of the buildings should be 0 degree, i.e., placed horizontally.

Smart Building, Photovoltaics, H2 Produced by Water Electrolysis, Fuel Cell, Self-Sufficiency Rate

Nishimura, A. , Kitagawa, S. , Hirota, M. and Hu, E. (2017) Assessment on Energy Self-Sufficiency Rate for Building Integrated Photovoltaics and Fuel Cell System in Japan. Smart Grid and Renewable Energy, 8, 195-211. doi: 10.4236/sgre.2017.86013.