Study of traditional and Z-source converter under variable fuel-flow-rate of PEMFC

Renewable energy sources integrated with power electronic converters plays an important role in satisfying the energy demands in variable applications. Fuel cell being a promising technology to use as a source of electricity, the mathematical modeling of the fuel cell is studied and testing of power electronic converters are carried out in this paper. Matlab/Simulink models of the fuel cell integrated with the converters are developed. Results show the variations in the amount of fuel utilized by the stack, its corresponding consumption and efficiency of a 65kW fuel cell integrated with the traditional and Z-source converters. In addition to the stack variation, output dc voltage of converters, and inverter three phase output voltages and currents are also presented.