A Boost-Inverter-Based, Battery-Supported, Fuel-Cell Sourced Three-Phase Stand-Alone Power Supply

In this paper, a three-phase boost-inverter topology is used to condition a typical low output voltage fuel cell (FC) as a stand-alone power supply. The key benefits of the proposed power supply include ability to deliver both the boosting and inversion functions in a single stage, compactness, and low cost. Additionally, the power supply incorporates a battery storage unit through a bidirectional converter to support the slow dynamics of the FC and simultaneously protect the FC as it acts as a filter for the low-frequency harmonics. The three-phase output voltage of the boost-inverter is voltage-mode controlled and the battery unit is current-mode controlled. Analysis, simulation, and experimental results taken from a 1-kW laboratory prototype three-phase boost-inverter operating at 20 kHz and bidirectional converter with two 12 V-24 Ah lead acid batteries are presented to confirm the operational performance of the proposed power supply.