Patent ID: 7901822

Claim:
A method to supply voltage from a fuel cell with a stack structure having stacked cells each cell being an energy generating element, said method comprising the steps of: generating power in the stacked cells having a tiered structure; obtaining and utilizing a first potential difference between a first generating element among the stacked cells and a ground potential as a first output voltage; and obtaining and utilizing a second potential difference between a second generating element among the stacked cells and the ground potential as a second output voltage, and making available first and second power signals with said first and second output voltages, respectively, wherein, the first generating element differs in size from the second generating element so that said first and second output voltages differ from one another at least based upon said difference in sizes, the first generating element abuts a first plurality of other generating elements each of a size equal to the first generating element, the second generating element abuts a second plurality of other generating elements each of a size equal to the second generating element, and the first plurality of other generating elements abut the second plurality of generating elements such that the generating elements become successively larger across the stacked cells to form the tiered structure.