A new design of single switch DC-DC converter for PEM fuel cell based EV system with variable step size RBFN controller

The fuel cell stack output power is depending on its operating temperature. The fuel cell V-I characteristics consist of single Maximum Power Point (MPP) and it diverges based on the operating temperature conditions. The Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) technique is used to track the operating point of the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) system. In this article, a Modified Variable Step Size-Radial Basis Functional Network (MVSS-RBFN) MPPT controller is used to achieve the peak power of the fuel cell system. The merits of the proposed power point tracking controller are high power point tracking speed, less steady-state oscillations, and good dynamic response. Also, a wide input and output operation, transformerless, and high boost-up Single Switch Boost Converter (SSBC) is proposed in this article to boost-up the fuel cell voltage. At steady-state operation, the proposed converter Continuous Conduction Mode and Discontinuous Conduction modes of operations are analyzed successfully. The SSBC performance is investigated experimentally by using a programmable DC-source.