Patent ID: 7998634

Claim:
In a fuel cell system comprising a fuel cell for generating power, a compressor for controlling a flow amount of a cathode gas supplied to the fuel cell, and a pressure control valve for controlling a pressure of the cathode gas in the fuel cell, a method for controlling the fuel cell system to change an amount of power generated by the fuel cell, the method comprising the steps of: setting a target flow amount of the cathode gas that corresponds to a target amount of power to be generated by the fuel cell; defining a transition period during which the flow amount converges to the target flow amount; setting a target pressure of the cathode gas that corresponds to the target flow amount; and during at least a portion of the transition period, measuring the actual flow amount of the cathode gas, and controlling the pressure of the cathode gas so that the cathode gas attains the target pressure by opening or closing the pressure control valve by an opening amount that is based on the measured actual flow amount of the cathode gas.