Fuel cell power conditioning for electric power applications: a summary

Fuel cells are considered to be one of the most promising sources of distributed energy because of their high efficiency, low environmental impact and scalability. Unfortunately, multiple complications exist in fuel cell operation. Fuel cells cannot accept current in the reverse direction, do not perform well with ripple current, have a low output voltage that varies with age and current, respond sluggishly to step changes in load and are limited in overload capabilities. For these reasons, power converters are often necessary to boost and regulate the voltage as a means to provide a stiff applicable DC power source. Furthermore, the addition of an inverter allows for the conversion of DC power to AC for an utility interface or for the application of an AC motor. To help motivate the use of power conditioning for the fuel cell, a brief introduction of the different types, applications and typical electrical characteristics of fuel cells is presented. This is followed by an examination of the various topologies of DC-DC boost converters and inverters used for power conditioning of fuel cells. Several architectures to aggregate multiple fuel cells for high-voltage/high-power applications are also reviewed.