Off-grid PV/URFC power plant fueled with biogas from food waste: An energetic and economic analysis

This paper presents the design, energy management and economic analysis of an off-grid power plant for a strip mall. The main goal is to achieve a 100% renewable operation, by using a photovoltaic panel array coupled to a battery and a unitized regenerative solid oxide fuel cell fed both with self-generated hydrogen and biogas produced from food waste in an on-site anaerobic digester. The power plant has been modeled by means of a self-made Matlab/Simulink® simulator and the plant operation has been simulated against different radiation and load demand scenarios. Results are compared both in terms of energetic and economic performance. In particular, it is observed that the annualized capital costs for unitized regenerative solid oxide fuel cell cover from 50% up to 58% of the total investment cost and from 71% up to 75% of the total replacement costs. Depending on the scenario and the specific tipping fee, tipping costs vary from a minimum of 9,793 $/y to a maximum 47,335 $/y. For all the analyzed scenarios, the cost of energy is higher than the grid electricity price, but the 100% renewable operation of the plant and the on-site waste conversion to biogas make this solution worth of investigation. •Introduction of novel PV/biogas-fueled URFC power plant.•Assessment of the hybrid power plant which serves a strip mall by a numerical model.•Techno-economic analysis of the plant operating in different regions of the U.S.•Fully renewable operation of the plant in all the cities with zero local emissions.