International Journal of Advanced Engineering Application

Hybrid Solar–Hydrogen Microgrid with PEM Electrolyzer Storage and Adaptive EMS for Off-Grid Rural Electrification

Author(s):Emmanuel Habimana, Aïcha Diallo, Dr. Lucas Møller Hansen, Prof. Yuki Tanaka

Affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Rwanda — College of Science and Technology, Kigali, Rwanda

Page No: 17-21

Volume issue & Publishing Year: Volume 3, Issue 5, 2026/05/06

Journal: International Journal of Advanced Engineering Application (IJAEA)

ISSN NO: 3048-6807

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20068875

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Abstract:
Sub-Saharan Africa hosts more than 570 million people without reliable access to electricity, with rural communities in mountainous terrain — such as Rwanda's Eastern Province — facing prohibitive grid-extension economics that average above 8,500 USD per kilometre of medium-voltage line. While solar photovoltaic (PV) systems coupled with lithium-ion battery storage have become the de-facto standard for off-grid electrification, battery-only architectures suffer from severe seasonal mismatch in equatorial climates where the long rainy season (March–May) produces 4–7 consecutive low-irradiance days that exceed the practical economic sizing of electrochemical storage. This paper presents the design, simulation and field validation of a hybrid solar–hydrogen microgrid that combines a 50 kWp PV array, an 8 kW Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer, a 50 Nm³ compressed hydrogen tank, a 5 kW PEM fuel cell, and a 100 kWh lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery, all coordinated by an adaptive Energy Management System (EMS) implemented on an STM32 micro-controller. The system was deployed at a 240-household village in Kayonza District, Rwanda, and benchmarked against five alternative configurations over a 20-year project lifecycle. Field measurements during the May 2025 monsoon period confirmed a Loss of Power Supply Probability (LPSP) of 0.6 %, a renewable energy fraction of 96 %, and a Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of 0.17 USD/kWh — a 32 % reduction relative to the best PV-battery configuration and a 60 % reduction relative to grid extension.

Keywords: hybrid microgrid, PEM electrolyzer, hydrogen storage, fuel cell, rural electrification, energy management system, LCOE, LPSP, Rwanda, Sub-Saharan Africa, off-grid, renewable energy.

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