Power conversion and control strategies for fuel cell vehicles

With the requirements for reducing the emissions and improving the fuel economy, the automotive companies are developing fuel cell systems for propulsion and for on-board power generation. Power electronics is an enabling technology for the development of environmental friendly fuel cell vehicles, and to implement the various vehicle electrical architectures to obtain the best performance. In this paper, power conversion strategies for propulsion and auxiliary power unit applications are described. The requirements of the propulsion system, power electronics, and control for the successful development of the fuel cell vehicles are also presented.