Comparison of models of fuel cells based on experimental data for the design of power electronics systems

Fuel cells have a key role in the potential provision of combined generation of heat and power. Sophisticated power management algorithms have been developed to reduce hydrogen consumption. An accurate analysis of the interaction between the fuel cell system and the front-end power converter is fundamental to achieving high performances. Accurate modelling of the entire system is required, especially the primary energy source, including the auxiliary components. Fuel cell modelling techniques have been presented extensively in the literature. Models are usually oriented to give technical insight concerning the fuel cell systems. The importance of fuel cell modelling in the design and control of front-end power converters seldom has been addressed, and this has led to highly complex model structures and the need to assume the values of several parameters that cannot be measured easily in a power electronics laboratory. Such models are not well suited for designing renewable energy systems. Hence, semi-empirical models oriented to the design of power systems are presented and compared. Both white-box and black-box modelling approaches are presented, and both models were tested on a 5-kW commercial fuel cell system provided by Nuvera. Both modelling approaches were validated comparing the simulation and experimental results.