Direct connection between a fuel cell and ultracapacitors

Fuel cells today are of special interest due to their high efficiency and low pollution features. However due to possible limitations of their dynamic performance a power buffer is required to support power peaks. Ultracapacitors represent one of the newest innovations in the field of electrical energy storage and seem to be a potential solution for this purpose. The association between a fuel cell and ultracapacitors is usually implemented via a power converter. The aim of this paper is to analyse the characteristics of a direct connection of a fuel cell and ultracapacitors without any intermediate power converter.