Search

This paper discusses the efficiency of two power electronic converters connected in cascade in aim to generate the maximum power from the fuel cell and regulate the load voltage under different working conditions and load variations. The first converter is an interleaved boost proposed to minimize the fuel cell voltage ripples and determine the optimum duty cycle to generate the maximum of power. Thereafter, the control of this converter is performed through a Maximum Power Point Tracking approach. To meet the load requirements in terms of voltage regulation, a buck boost converter controlled with a Proportional Integral controller is proposed. This configuration allows generating the optimal power and regulating the load voltage at the same time. The both converters are simulated under Matlab-Simulink to validate the robustness and the efficiency of this new design. Obtained results show the robustness of the new design approach and efficiency improvement of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] New offline MPPT method has been developed. [•] Both open circuit voltage and short circuit currents were considered. [•] Reference panel is used and PIC is used to locate MPPT. [•] Experiments were conducted to study the efficiency. [•] The maximum efficiency of the system was about 94%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]