Hybridising micro-generation

Element Energy has invested time and money in building a new micro-hybrid system that can be used in a number of applications and power ranges (from a few watts up to 5 kW). We have designed, built and tested a new power electronics approach. The system is patent applied for and, we believe, truly unique.

The heart of the Element Energy system is a power electronics board that can connect a number of DC devices to an energy store and hybridise the output. This is technically extremely challenging, and is recognised by the industry as a remarkable achievement. Element Energy has successfully developed both the algorithms and power electronics at relatively low cost by using some electronic devices in a completely new way.

There are many potential applications for hybridisation, but an example of its use might be a renewable device and battery set. Our device allows a precise optimisation of power flows to and from the battery system according to the properties of the renewable energy generator, the battery itself and the load.

The first commercial embodiment of the technology is using the power electronics to hybridise a hydrogen fuel cell with lithium iron phosphate batteries. The commercial advantage is that the system has a higher instantaneous power output than could be achieved for the same cost using just a fuel cell. Technically the system combines the strengths of a fuel cell with the strengths of the lightweight lithium batteries. By storing the energy produced by the fuel cell it reduces the on/off cycles the fuel cell needs in order to perform and increases the total life and efficiency of the system.