PV & Fuel Cell Development
Personnel at the Arizona State University - Photovoltaic
Testing Laboratory (ASU-PTL) have extensive research experience on
the flat-plate, concentrator and photo-electrochemical solar electric
technologies, and fuel cell technologies.
Through funding from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and
Sandia National Laboratory, ASU-PTL has developed and continues to
develop testing standards for photovoltaic
modules as well as other development projects. Some of its
PV research projects include:
- Development of an outdoor Thermal Test Bed for Energy Rating of
PV modules
- Development of IEC Design Qualification Standard for Concentrator
PV modules
- Implementation of Sandia’s Performance Model.
The ASU-PTL has an indoor testing/office area of
5,200 square feet, a fenced in, secure outdoor test facility of 58,500
square feet with full exposure to the sun and a full range of utilities
available, and a storage building of 1,820 square feet. The Laboratory
is instrumented with a full range of measurement capability, including
electrical quantities and properties, temperature, pressure, and flow
rates as well as weather and detailed atmospheric conditions. In addition,
the facility includes an extensive digital data acquisition capability.
ASU-PTL already has contracts with various organizations, including
NREL, Salt River to work on applied photovoltaic and fuel cells research.
More recently, the ASU-PTL has focused its attention on the fuel
cell industry. It has now completed a contract with the Salt River
Project and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to test
a Plug Power GenSys 5CS 5 kW grid-connected
PEM residential fuel cell system using natural gas for 1.5
years.
In addition, we are currently working on a project from CERL for
a one-year residential fuel cell demonstration program. Two PEM fuel cells—one of which is a PlugPower
5CS and the other an IdaTech unit— were connected to the grid
at the Silvestre Herrera US Army Reserve Training Center, adjacent
to the ASU-PTL facility. More than monitoring the performance, these
PEM fuel cell systems will, in addition to being a service to the
Corps of Engineers, allow the Laboratory to offer hands-on testing
and monitoring experience for its undergraduate and graduate students.
The ASU Photovoltaic Testing Laboratory is actively
seeking to apply its years of experience in photovoltaic technology
to fuel cell technology as it relates to actual field installations,
performance and testing.
The Laboratory has:
- An indoor 1.8 kW fuel cell test station
- Designed, developed, demonstrated and uses an inverter-free
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) using a PEM fuel cell and gaseous
hydrogen to support DC loads up to 250 W including a computer for
about 190 hours operation.
- Demonstrated an inverter-based UPS using a PEM fuel cell and compressed
hydrogen to support ac loads up to 7 kW.
- Fuel cell fabrication capability for use as a teaching tool and
prototype developments.
As it has done with photovoltaic testing, the ASU-PTL
is also in the process of formulating an academic curriculum, based
on applied research, in the alternate energy domain that includes
fuel cells. To have operational fuel cells will be a core attraction
to students in the academic program. It will also bolster the testing
abilities of the laboratory and allow it to be a contributing entity
within the fuel cell community
