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A power conditioner interfaces a load to a fuel cell 10 that produces a low voltage that varies with the load. A dc-to-ac inverter 16 operates with a low voltage input provided by a dc bus 14. When a positive step load change occurs, a low voltage battery 22 provides power equal to the step change u

A power conditioner interfaces a load to a fuel cell 10 that produces a low voltage that varies with the load. A dc-to-ac inverter 16 operates with a low voltage input provided by a dc bus 14. When a positive step load change occurs, a low voltage battery 22 provides power equal to the step change until the fuel cell 10 is able to provide enough power to support the entire load. The power from the battery 22 is supplied to the varying dc bus 14 through a boost converter 12. When very large positive load step changes occur, the battery can feed power to the dc bus through diode D1, rather than through the boost converter. Diode D1 does not need to be used, but its use allows the boost converter to be sized for common load changes rather than for the maximum possible load change (such as might be seen during a faulted output). A buck converter converts the variable voltage on the dc bus 14 to the appropriate float charging voltage of the battery. The buck converter also supplies power for auxiliary equipment when available from the fuel cell. If the fuel cell is unable to provide the auxiliary power (such as during startup or load transients), then the auxiliary power can come directly from the battery.

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1. A power conditioner for conditioning electrical power provided by a fuel cell to a load through a dc-to-ac inverter, comprising:(a) a dc bus coupled to the fuel cell and the dc-to-ac inverter; (b) a battery operatively coupled to the dc bus; (c) a buck converter coupled between the battery and th

1. A power conditioner for conditioning electrical power provided by a fuel cell to a load through a dc-to-ac inverter, comprising:(a) a dc bus coupled to the fuel cell and the dc-to-ac inverter; (b) a battery operatively coupled to the dc bus; (c) a buck converter coupled between the battery and the dc bus; and (d) a boost converter coupled between the battery and the dc bus.