Development of a low cost fuel cell inverter system with DSP control

In this paper, the development of a low cost fuel cell inverter system is detailed. The approach consists of a three-terminal push-pull dc-dc converter to boost the fuel cell voltage (48 V) to +/-200 VDC. A four switch [insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)] inverter is employed to produce 120-V/240-V, 60-Hz ac outputs. High performance, easy manufacturability, lower component count, safety and cost are addressed. Protection and diagnostic features form an important part of the design. Another highlight of the proposed design is the control strategy, which allows the inverter to adapt to the requirements of the load as well as the power source (fuel cell). A unique aspect of the design is the use of the TMS320LF2407 DSP to control the inverter. Two sets of lead-acid batteries are provided on the high voltage dc bus to supply sudden load demands. Efficient and smooth control of the power drawn from the fuel cell and the high voltage battery is achieved by controlling the front end dc-dc converter in current mode. The paper details extensive experimental results of the proposed design on Department of Energy (DoE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) fuel cell.