Sliding Mode Control for Energy Management of DC Hybrid Power Sources Using Fuel Cell, Batteries and Supercapacitors

The use of fuel cells as embarked electrical energy needs a storage system with high dynamic performances [1]. This storage system allows a peak load shaving, and compensates the intrinsic limitations of the main source. The use of supercapacitors [2] for this storage system is quite suitable, because of appropriate characteristics (huge capacitance, weak serial resistance), of direct storage (energy ready for use), of easy control by power electronic conversion and high dynamic storage elements comparing with slow dynamic fuel cell device [3]. This paper deals with the conception of hybrid power sources using fuel cell as main source, batteries on the DC link and supercapacitors as transient power source. The proposed structure is presented with a sliding mode controller and simulation results.