Modeling and Analysis of Solar PV Power System for Greenhouse Application With Electrolyser Fuel Cell Back Up

The application of greenhouse technology for cultivation of flowers, vegetables and horticultural plants is rapidly expanding worldwide. But at present the requirement of grid connectivity imposes a restriction on the emanation of this technology to areas which are remote. In a developing country like India, where a significant number of villages are yet to be connected to any national or regional grid, this restriction assumes considerable significance. Due to abundant availability of solar energy in the plains of Indian subcontinent, its use in powering a greenhouse provides for a viable option. But due to the intermittent availability of solar energy, the provision of some form of back up arrangement to power the greenhouse becomes necessary. In the present paper a model for the power system of a greenhouse powered by solar photovoltaic system is presented and the back up arrangement is provided through a combination of electrolyser fuel cell system. The presented model shows that this integrated system comprising of greenhouse-solar photovoltaic module-electrolyser & fuel cell will provide a viable option for the design of stand alone greenhouses.