Patent ID: 7800340

Claim:
A multi-stack assembly receiving fuel from a fuel supply and producing power output for consumption by a load, said assembly comprising: a plurality of fuel cell stacks for producing DC power, said plurality of fuel cell stacks forming one or more fuel cell stack groups, wherein each of said fuel cell stack groups includes at least first and second fuel cell stacks connected in series; one or more inverters corresponding to said one or more of fuel cell stack groups, wherein each of said inverters draws a predetermined amount of DC power from a corresponding fuel cell stack group and converts said DC power to AC power; and a controller for controlling each of said inverters to draw the predetermined amount of DC power from said corresponding fuel cell stack group so as to satisfy power requirements of said load, wherein the series connection of said first and second fuel cell stacks in each of said fuel cell stack groups is at ground, wherein said controller controls each of the inverters by determining an individual inverter set point for each said inverter corresponding to the predetermined amount of DC power to be drawn by said inverter from said corresponding fuel cell stack group and wherein said individual inverter set point is determined based on an actual flow rate to said assembly, DC power required from said assembly to satisfy load requirements, individual fuel utilization factor for each said inverter, and a hydrogen content of said fuel supplied to said assembly.