Hydrogen Filling Station Description

Through a grant from the Department of Energy, the University of Nevada - Las Vegas (UNLV), the Las Vegas Valley Water District (LVVWD), and Proton Energy have worked with several other entities to create a solar powered Hydrogen Filling Station. The goal is to create hydrogen from a renewable resource for use at the LVVWD and Desert Springs Preserve. The hydrogen will be used by utility vehicles that have been converted from traditional battery power or gasoline internal combustion to use hydrogen as fuel. The vehicle conversions were done at UNLV by graduate students, researchers, and Kell's Automotive Marine.

System Layout

The hydrogen generation/distribution system is composed of a Fuelgen 12 electrolyzer (Unit 1), buffer tank, chiller, and a dispenser (Unit 2).

Power for this equipment is provided by a solar array capable of 14kWe AC output, consisting of 4 single axis tracking units purchased by the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) and installed by Arizona Public Service. The array is connected to the grid, such that excess power is fed into the grid.