Patent ID: 7565224

Claim:
A hydrogen fuel supply system disposed at a facility that is offboard a vehicle, for supplying hydrogen to one or more hydrogen powered vehicles, said system comprising: at least one water electrolysis-based hydrogen generator disposed at said facility for generating hydrogen by separating hydrogen from oxygen in water using electrical energy received from a source of electrical energy; at least one hydrogen storage apparatus disposed at said facility connected to said at least one hydrogen generator for storing said hydrogen; at least one hydrogen dispenser disposed at said facility for dispensing hydrogen to one or more hydrogen powered vehicles, said at least one hydrogen dispenser being operatively connected to receive hydrogen from at least one of said at least one hydrogen generator and said at least one hydrogen storage apparatus; and at least one controller having a computer processor for receiving and processing control inputs including data pertaining to (i) availability of electrical energy from said source of electrical energy for use by said at least one hydrogen generator, (ii) demand for hydrogen for use by said one or more hydrogen vehicles (iii) operating status of said at least one hydrogen generator, and (iv) status of said at least one hydrogen storage apparatus, said at least one controller being operatively connected to said at least one hydrogen generator for controlling the generation of hydrogen based at least in part upon said control inputs (i)-(iv); wherein said data pertaining to availability of electrical energy includes data pertaining to a unit price per increment of electrical energy available for generating said hydrogen.