Patent ID: 8507142

Claim:
A fuel cell system comprising: a fuel cell; a secondary battery charged by the fuel cell; a charge status detector arranged to detect a charge status of the secondary battery; a controller programmed to control power generation in the fuel cell; a main switch arranged to start and stop operation of the fuel cell system; and an instruction unit arranged to stop power generation in the fuel cell; wherein the controller is programmed such that after the controller receives an operation stop command from the main switch during power generation in the fuel cell: the controller is programmed to continue power generation in the fuel cell until a result of detection by the charge status detector is not lower than a first threshold value, before stopping power generation in the fuel cell; the controller is programmed to stop power generation in the fuel cell in response to a first power generation stopping command from the instruction unit if a result of detection by the charge status detector is lower than the first threshold value and not lower than a second threshold value; the controller is programmed to continue power generation in the fuel cell if a result of detection by the charge status detector is lower than the second threshold value such that the secondary battery is charged until the charge status is a value not lower than the second threshold value even when the instruction unit provides the first power generation stopping command; and the controller is programmed to stop power generation in the fuel cell in response to a second power generation stopping command from the instruction unit if a result of detection by the charge status detector is lower than the second threshold value.