Effects of fuel cell and DC-link voltage on boost converter efficiency in fuel cell-battery hybrid vehicles

In fuel cell-battery hybrid vehicles, a boost converter is necessary to convert the electrical energy of the low DC voltage of the fuel cell to the high voltage DC bus. Examine the influence of different voltage levels of battery packs and fuel cell stacks on the boost converter efficiency is useful to design a more efficient power train. In this paper a precise methodology will be introduced to model and calculate the boost converter losses in fuel cell-battery vehicles. The significant losses that are considered in the study consist of the diode and IGBT losses, including the switching and conduction losses, as well as inductor losses. Then, the derived models will be used to examine the effects of the battery pack and fuel cell voltage level on the boost converter efficiency.