[INSERT STUDENT AND COURSE INFO HERE]

Fuel Cell Lab

Fuel Cell
Introduction:

The first part of this lab was designed to explain the working of a simple solar cell. The main goal is to
measure the voltage and find out the maximum power output of the solar cell.
The second part was designed to explain the working of a fuel cell and an electrolyzer and to power a fan
using the fuel cell. The main goal is to understand how to use solar energy to make a fuel cell work, store the
hydrogen and then to use it to power a fan. This experiment will analyze the way a solar cell is used to power a fuel
cell, and the hydrogen stored in the fuel cell is used to power a fan.
Procedure:
SOLAR CELL:
1.

First, connect each resistor to the ohmmeter using the wires provided, and measure and record the

2.

resistance of each one. An example of the setup is shown in figure 1.

Take the resistors one at a time and measure their current by setting the wired and ohmmeter as shown in

3.

figure 2.
Then, take a resistor and use the wires provided to connect it to the ohmmeter. On the other side, connect it
to the solar cell, as shown in figure 3. Measure the voltage of the resistor, and repeat for the rest of the
resistors.

4.
5.

Figure 1: Measuring the

Figure 2: Measuring the
Figure 3: Measuring the
resistance
current
voltage
Use the formula Power = Current * Voltage, and enter all of the data in excel.
Use Excel to plot the power vs. the voltage of the resistors.

FUEL CELL:
1.

Place the oxygen and hydrogen storage tanks and the electrolyzer (blue on top) on the base plate and

2.

connect the bottom 2 holes in the 2 storage tanks to the 2 sides of the electrolyzer.
Connect the hydrogen storage tank to the fuel cell (yellow on top) with a tube to the top hole in the fuel
cell. Put a cap in the bottom of the hydrogen tank side of the fuel cell and a cap in the oxygen side. Also put

3.

a cap over the hole in the oxygen tank, on the fuel cell side.
Make sure your setup looks like figure 4, and then pour distilled water into both storage tanks up to the

4.

lower mark.
Open the caps on the bottom of the fuel cell and the fuel cell side of the oxygen tank and put them back on

5.
6.

when the water level in the storage tanks stops falling.

Tighten a hose clamp on the pipe between the hydrogen tank and the fuel cell, as shown in figure 5.
Use the black and red wires to connect the electrolyzer to the solar cell and the fuel cell to the fan. The final
setup should look like figure 6.

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7.

When you turn on the lamp and shine it on the solar cell, the electrolyzer will begin to produce hydrogen
and oxygen in a ratio of 2:1. Wait for approximately 30 minutes until the water in the hydrogen tank covers

8.

the word h-tec. Then turn the lamp off since you dont need the solar energy anymore.
Loosen the clamp shown in figure 5, and open the stopper on the oxygen side of the fuel cell. Carefully
open the stopper on the hydrogen side of the fuel cell and close it after allowing around 10 cm3 of hydrogen

9.

through. This should only take a few seconds.

The fan should now start since the hydrogen is powering it. Record the time it takes for the fan to stop. This

will help determine whether you accumulated enough hydrogen or not.

10. Once the lab is over, disconnect all the wires and empty the water from the 2 tanks.

Figure 4: The electrolyzer, fuel

cell and 2 tanks should be set up
like this.

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Figure 5: The blue object over the

pipe is the clamp.

Figure 6: Final setup

Results:
SOLAR CELL:

Output Power Experiment

Resistan
Current
Voltage
ce
(A)
(V)
Power (W)
0.0024356
1.9
0.0631
0.0386
6
0.0060187
4.8
0.0625
0.0963
5
0.0126621
10.4
0.0621
0.2039
9
20.8
0.0606
0.393
0.0238158
0.0327836
53.4
0.03579
0.916
4
0.0305555
97.1
0.02059
1.484
6
Table 1: Current, Voltage and Power of the different
resistors.

Power vs. Voltage

f(x) = - 0.03x^2 + 0.06x + 0

Graph 1: Power vs. Voltage of the resistors

The power increased as the voltage increased. The
maximum power is at 0.0327 W and 0.9 V

FUEL CELL:
Time the fan was running: >25 minutes
Discussion:

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A solar cell is a device that converts sunlight into electrical energy. Solar cells are not 100% efficient, i.e.,
they do not convert 100% of solar energy into electrical energy. The solar cell lab proved this. Graph 1 shows that
the maximum power output is only about 0.03 watts. The efficiency of the solar cell is approximately 20%. That is
normal for most solar cells today.
2 main devices were used in the fuel cell part of the lab: an electrolyzer and a fuel cell.
An electrolyzer splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. It consists of an anode side and a cathode side,
separated by a PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane). Water enters the anode side and protons (H+) flow across the
PEM to the cathode side. Electrons flow through an external circuit to the cathode side. Oxygen remains on the
anode side. The protons and electrons on the cathode side combine to form hydrogen gas (H 2). That is how we get
hydrogen in the storage tank. The reaction occurring here is: 2H2O 2H2 + O2. Water breaks into hydrogen and
oxygen.
A fuel cell is device in which hydrogen and oxygen are recombined to form electrical energy and water.
Like the electrolyzer, it consists of an anode side and a cathode side, separated by a PEM. Oxygen enters the cathode
side of the cell. Hydrogen that was collected in the tank enters the anode side of the cell and forms protons and
electrons. Protons go through the PEM to the cathode side and the electrons go through the external circuit. The
oxygen entering the cathode side reacts to form water. The reaction occurring here is: 2H 2 + O2 2H2O. Hydrogen
and oxygen combine to form water.
This way, first the solar cell is used to power the electrolyzer. Once the electrolyzer stores the hydrogen in
the tank, the solar cell is no longer needed. The fuel cell uses the hydrogen to power the fan. If enough hydrogen is
collected, the fan should run for a nice amount of time. The average time given was 20 minutes. The fan in this case
ran for past 25 minutes, therefore it was disconnected before it came to a complete stop since the objective had
already been met. The results showed that a good amount of hydrogen gas was collected in the storage tank, and the
lab was successful.
Summary:
Part 1 of the lab showed that solar cells are not 100% efficient; it is normal for them to be around 20%
efficient.
Part 2 of the lab showed how a solar cell, electrolyzer and fuel cell can be combined to power a fan. Solar
energy can be used to split oxygen and hydrogen in the electrolyzer and the hydrogen can be used by the fuel cell to
power the fan. In the end, the fan is running successfully, without the help of solar energy, only on the fuel cell.

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