Assessment of a Dedicated On-Site Cell Voltage Monitor for Fuel Cell Systems

Laboratory high performance test equipment is too expensive and bulky for on-site fuel cell stack evaluation. Yet safety assessments show that cell voltage monitoring is a crucial element in operating a fuel cell system. In this paper a dedicated cell voltage monitoring system for on-site applications is evaluated. It describes the specific concept of the on-site monitoring system, shows measurement results for safety, control and long-term evaluation and presents a comparison of communication protocols.