Patent ID: 8241803

Claim:
A method of actuating a fuel cell system equipped with a fuel cell, to which reaction gases are supplied for generating electricity, the method comprising the steps of: a first step for actuating the fuel cell in a low-temperature actuation mode to thereby warm up the fuel cell, if a low-temperature condition is satisfied at a start-up of the fuel cell, warming up of the fuel cell being completed when a current temperature of the fuel cell is equal to or higher than a warming-up completion temperature; a second step for drying a membrane electrode assembly of the fuel cell during fuel cell start-up after warming up of the fuel cell is completed, the second step performed only if power generation capacity of the fuel cell is lower than a predetermined power generation capacity, and the second step is not performed if the power generation capacity of the fuel cell is higher than the predetermined power generation capacity; a third step for generating electricity in a steady operation mode if the power generation capacity of the fuel cell is equal to or higher than the predetermined power generation capacity; and determining if the power generation capacity of the fuel cell is lower than the predetermined power generation capacity by: generating a current/voltage (I-V) curve by sampling a currently output current and a currently output voltage; comparing the I-V curve to a predetermined I-V curve; and determining that the power generation capacity of the fuel cell is lower than the predetermined power generation capacity if the I-V curve is lower than the predetermined I-V curve.