Series hybrid fuel cell/supercapacitor power source

Hybridization systems working with electric generators and energy storage devices lead to optimal technologies for recent power sources. They are becoming more popular due to their advantages such as high efficiency, saved energy and low pollution. There are many types of architecture of hybridization. This article proposes a novel converter structure for a hybrid fuel cell/supercapacitor application that the fuel cell is hybridized with a bank of supercapacitors. Its benefits include high efficiency and maximum use of supercapacitor energy. The mathematical model is developed. The operation and modeling of the converter are presented. Closed-loop controls by using an indirect-sliding mode technique for the inner current loop and the energy control in the outer loop including a disturbance estimator are provided. Finally, simulation and experimental results obtained from the 150 W testbench are given to validate the proposed converter and system. The obtained results have shown that the proposed converter structure offers the right candidate for a hybridization fuel cell/supercapacitor power source.