Grid-synchronized solar-hydrogen microgrids: An innovative hybrid fuzzy-PLL and droop strategy for optimized hydrogen production
Abstract
This study proposes an innovative energy management strategy aimed at stabilizing green hydrogen production in grid-connected photovoltaic microgrids. The developed architecture combines an adaptive droop control with a fuzzy logic-based synchronization loop (Fuzzy-PLL), simultaneously ensuring dynamic power flow balancing, DC bus stability, and injected power quality. Unlike conventional approaches relying on electrochemical storage, the electrical grid is exploited as a bidirectional energy reservoir capable of instantly absorbing or supplying imbalances caused by solar resource intermittency.A comprehensive multiphysics model has been developed to represent the entire photovoltaic-to-hydrogen conversion chain, including the photovoltaic generator, DC/DC and AC/DC converters, DC bus dynamics, the Fuzzy-PLL synchronization mechanism, as well as a detailed electrochemical model of a PEM electrolyzer. The control strategy relies on a hierarchical architecture in which the droop law regulates power exchanges with the grid, while the Fuzzy-PLL ensures robust synchronization under highly variable operating conditions.A numerical evaluation was carried out using a real irradiance profile applied to an 88.5 kWp photovoltaic field feeding a PEM electrolyzer via a 400 V DC bus. The results show that the DC bus voltage remains within a band of ±1.5 % around its nominal value, despite significant power fluctuations (coefficient of variation of 89.4 %). The proposed strategy achieves a locking time of 20 ms, a phase error of 0.14 %, a power factor of 0.99, and a total harmonic distortion (THD) of 4.7 %, thus satisfying the requirements of IEEE 1547 and IEC 61,727 standards. The hydrogen production rate reaches 1.65 kg/h, i.e., 98.8 % of the nominal capacity of the electrolyzer, with a ripple below 1.5 % and a fluctuation reduction exceeding 98 %. The overall electricity-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency, evaluated over the entire system boundary including grid exchanges, reaches approximately 64 %, placing this architecture in the upper range of optimized photovoltaic-electrolyzer conversion chains reported in the literature. Over the considered simulation period, the chemical energy stored as hydrogen reaches approximately 440 kWh, of which the solar fraction amounts to approximately 45 % for the particularly demanding test day selected, the electrical grid acting as a real-time reversible buffer.The results obtained demonstrate that a PV-hydrogen architecture driven by a hybrid Droop-Fuzzy PLL strategy can ensure stable hydrogen production and high-performance grid synchronization without resorting to battery storage, while achieving a competitive level of energy efficiency. This approach therefore constitutes a promising solution for the development of future high-efficiency Power-to-Hydrogen systems.
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BibTeX
@article{bourezza2026gridsynchronized,
title = {{Grid-synchronized solar-hydrogen microgrids: An innovative hybrid fuzzy-PLL and droop strategy for optimized hydrogen production}},
author = {El Mehdi Bourezza and Mohammed Remaidi and Othmane Marbouh and Abdelhadi Boukndal and Hicham Mastouri and Chouaib Ennawaoui and Abdessamad El Ballouti},
journal = {Results in engineering},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1016/j.rineng.2026.112440},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05745387v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Grid-synchronized solar-hydrogen microgrids: An innovative hybrid fuzzy-PLL and droop strategy for optimized hydrogen production
AU - El Mehdi Bourezza
AU - Mohammed Remaidi
AU - Othmane Marbouh
AU - Abdelhadi Boukndal
AU - Hicham Mastouri
AU - Chouaib Ennawaoui
AU - Abdessamad El Ballouti
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/13
JO - Results in engineering
DO - 10.1016/j.rineng.2026.112440
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05745387v1
AB - This study proposes an innovative energy management strategy aimed at stabilizing green hydrogen production in grid-connected photovoltaic microgrids. The developed architecture combines an adaptive droop control with a fuzzy logic-based synchronization loop (Fuzzy-PLL), simultaneously ensuring dynamic power flow balancing, DC bus stability, and injected power quality. Unlike conventional approaches relying on electrochemical storage, the electrical grid is exploited as a bidirectional energy reservoir capable of instantly absorbing or supplying imbalances caused by solar resource intermittency.A comprehensive multiphysics model has been developed to represent the entire photovoltaic-to-hydrogen conversion chain, including the photovoltaic generator, DC/DC and AC/DC converters, DC bus dynamics, the Fuzzy-PLL synchronization mechanism, as well as a detailed electrochemical model of a PEM electrolyzer. The control strategy relies on a hierarchical architecture in which the droop law regulates power exchanges with the grid, while the Fuzzy-PLL ensures robust synchronization under highly variable operating conditions.A numerical evaluation was carried out using a real irradiance profile applied to an 88.5 kWp photovoltaic field feeding a PEM electrolyzer via a 400 V DC bus. The results show that the DC bus voltage remains within a band of ±1.5 % around its nominal value, despite significant power fluctuations (coefficient of variation of 89.4 %). The proposed strategy achieves a locking time of 20 ms, a phase error of 0.14 %, a power factor of 0.99, and a total harmonic distortion (THD) of 4.7 %, thus satisfying the requirements of IEEE 1547 and IEC 61,727 standards. The hydrogen production rate reaches 1.65 kg/h, i.e., 98.8 % of the nominal capacity of the electrolyzer, with a ripple below 1.5 % and a fluctuation reduction exceeding 98 %. The overall electricity-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency, evaluated over the entire system boundary including grid exchanges, reaches approximately 64 %, placing this architecture in the upper range of optimized photovoltaic-electrolyzer conversion chains reported in the literature. Over the considered simulation period, the chemical energy stored as hydrogen reaches approximately 440 kWh, of which the solar fraction amounts to approximately 45 % for the particularly demanding test day selected, the electrical grid acting as a real-time reversible buffer.The results obtained demonstrate that a PV-hydrogen architecture driven by a hybrid Droop-Fuzzy PLL strategy can ensure stable hydrogen production and high-performance grid synchronization without resorting to battery storage, while achieving a competitive level of energy efficiency. This approach therefore constitutes a promising solution for the development of future high-efficiency Power-to-Hydrogen systems.
SN - 2590-1230
ER -