FUEL CELL SYSTEM POWER CONTROL METHOD AND SYSTEM

摘要

A fuel cell 10' is placed in parallel with a battery 14' via a mechanical switch. The voltage is held nearly constant by the battery 14' and the power flow is controlled by adjusting the fuel cell 10' operating parameters such as temperature or air flow and by opening and closing the mechanical switch. The result is a system that operates at nearly constant voltage without the need for an expensive power conditioning system. The output of the system can then be processed via a traditional conditioning system such as an inverter or dc-to-dc converter without the need for a wide range of input operating voltages. This reduces the cost and size of the fuel cell 10' power conditioning system.