HYBRID Fuel cell and SOLAR-POWERED CHARGING STATION FOR MICRO-MOBILITY AND STEM EDUCATION

The increasing demand for sustainable energy solutions in transportation has driven significant advancements in renewable energy technologies, with applications in electric vehicle charging stations, for example. Thus, a hybrid fuel cell and solar-powered charging station for micro-mobility, where such local transportation is utilized, would be beneficial. Moreover, such a hybrid charging station can be used to promote STEM education as it showcases the integration of solar-energy panels and hydrogen fuel cell technology to provide a sustainable power solution for micro-mobility and portable devices. This project aims to address the growing demand for eco-friendly transportation options while serving as an educational tool for science and engineering students. The methodology involved assembling, testing, and evaluating a system composed of a solar panel of up to 200 W, a solar charge controller, a set of battery banks, a hydrogen generator, a fuel cell, and a power inverter. The preliminary results indicated that while the system could power various devices from a fan of 3 Watts to a laptop of about 90 Watts, the hydrogen generators underperformed a bit to run at sub-optimal pressure at a flow rate of about 1 L/min, and thus limited the fuel cell's performance to below 100 Watts. The solar charging system successfully charged batteries to power the hydrogen generator for the tested duration.