An approach to obtain the V-I characteristic of fuel cells by means of DC-DC converters

This paper proposes a new approach to test and evaluate V-I characteristics of fuel cells stacks based on DC-DC converters, which features are simple structure, scalability, fast response and low cost. The measurement of the desired characteristic of fuel cells includes high speed of response, high fidelity and low cost. The obtained results show that all DC-DC topologies are not capable of reproducing this characteristic and that SEPIC (Single-Ended Primary Inductance Converter) converter is optimal for this application. Experimental results show the usefulness of the proposed method.