Comparative study between battery and supercapacitor hybridization with fuel cells for automotive applications

This paper deals with a comparison study between two hybrid systems composed by batteries with fuel cell and super capacitors with fuel cell. A sizing algorithm is used to define the optimal sizes of the hybrid source. The comparison between the two systems is based on the weight, volume and cost. The batteries prove best performances in case of sizing according to the energy. However, the super capacitors provide the optimal sizes of the hybrid source in case of sizing according to the total recovered power. It is noted that the hybridization of the HP batteries with the fuel cell is an interesting solution to make up the Energy Storage System for automotive applications with high drive range.