Hydrogen portable applications may overcome shortcomings of batteries especially concerning autonomy and safety. On the other hand, energy systems based on fuel cells and hydrogen are more complex and voluminous, compared with battery systems where the energy storage and power consumption are integrated in the same device. It is for this reason that fuel cells for portable applications require new architectures and working conditions that allow minimizing system requirements without the loss of efficiency.

This communication will show new developments for hydrogen portable applications, concerning cell configuration, stacks, and systems, in order to improve portability and efficiency and decreasing fuel cell system consumption. The cells are able to work under full passive conditions, without the aid of fans and purging valves. The stack configuration allows easy integration, repairing, and dismantling of single cells without affecting the other cells. Power generation systems have been developed based on boost converter electronic and the integration of supercapacitors to provide short events of high power demands to the applications. Results of system behavior and response in real applications will be shown.

Acknowledgements.

This work was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain, and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), Project E-LIG-E, ENE2015-70417-P (MINECO/FEDER).