Patent ID: 7790303

Claim:
A method for controlling a fuel cell power plant adapted to store energy in an energy storage system associated with said fuel cell power plant which is removed from an associated fuel cell stack during transition from being not operating to operating, and vice versa, or other power reductions, in response to a controller interconnected with said fuel cell stack and responsive to signals received by said controller to cause said fuel cell stack to start up and to cause said fuel cell stack to shut down or otherwise vary power output, said energy storage system responsive to electrical output provided thereto to store corresponding energy, said method comprising: during a transition selected from (a) startup of said fuel cell power plant or (b) shutdown of said fuel cell power plant or other reduction of power supplied by said fuel cell power plant, extracting, in the form of electrical output, energy generated by said fuel cell stack, said electrical output being provided to said energy storage device, thereby limiting the maximum average voltage in the fuel cells of said fuel cell stack during said transition.