Intelligent Control of Fuel Cell Distributed Generation Systems

This paper presents modeling, controller design, and simulation study of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) distributed generation (DG) system. The overall configuration of the SOFC DG system is given, dynamic models for the SOFC power plant and its power electronic interfacing are briefly described, and controller design methodologies for the power conditioning units to control the power flow from the fuel cell power plant to the utility grid are presented. A MATLAB/Simulink simulation model is developed for the SOFC DG system by combining the individual component models and the controllers designed for the power conditioning units. Simulation results are given to show the overall system performance including active power control and voltage regulation capability of the distribution system.