A Survey of Converter Topologies for Fuel Cells in the kW Range

In this paper, an overview of the, for a converter design most important, fuel cell characteristics is given. Different DC-DC converter topologies are presented. Their qualification for a low-input voltage, high-input current application is discussed. A comparison of the converters is given with regard to the power range they are appropriate for. The limiting factors for the transferable power are pointed out. For two topologies, a current-fed converter and a two-stage converter, experimental results are shown.