System for monitoring and controlling fuel cell-based power generation units
View Patent ↗A system includes fuel cell units and an on-site computer that is located near the units. The on-site computer is coupled to the fuel cell subsystems to communicate indications of operating conditions of the fuel cell subsystems over a remote communication link to a remote computer.
1. A system comprising:
fuel cell-based power generation units, each unit comprising a fuel cell stack and the fuel cell stacks being physically separate from each other; and
an on-site computer located near the units and being coupled to the units to communicate indications of operating conditions of the units over a remote communication link to a remote computer, the on-site computer being adapted to execute a command to control the units.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the on-site computer is adapted to log information indicative of operating parameters of the units.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the information is stored in mass storage local to the on-site computer.
4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the parameters comprise at least one of the following:
a voltage, a current, a flow rate, an efficiency and a temperature.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the operating conditions comprise:
a power production state of at least one of the units.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the operating conditions comprise:
an output power of at least one of the units.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the operating conditions comprise:
an error status of at least one of the units.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the remote communication link comprises, a satellite link.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the remote communication link comprises a wide area network link.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the remote communication link comprises a wireless radio-based link.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the remote communication link comprises an Ethernet link.
12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the on-site computer is adapted to:
in response to an error occurring in the operation of one of the units, capture a waveform associated with the error.
13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the command changes a power state of at least one of the units.
14. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the units comprises a complete fuel cell system.
15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the command comprises a command originating at the remote computer.
16. A method comprising:
providing fuel cell-based power generation units, each unit comprising a fuel cell stack and the fuel cell stacks being physically separate from each other;
coupling an on-site computer to the units, the on-site computer being located near the units;
communicating operating conditions of the units over a remote communication link to a remote computer; and
executing a command at the on-site computer to control the fuel cell units, the command being communicated by the remote computer to the on-site computer.
17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
using the on-site computer to log information indicative of operating parameters of the units.
18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
storing the information in mass storage local to the on-site computer.
19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the parameters comprise at least one of the following:
a voltage, a current, a flow rate, an efficiency and a temperature.
20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the operating conditions comprise:
a power production state of at least one of the units.
21. The method of claim 16 , wherein the operating conditions comprise:
an output power of at least one of the units.
22. The method of claim 16 , wherein the operating conditions comprise:
an error status of at least one of the units.
23. The method of claim 16 , wherein the remote communication link comprises a satellite link.
24. The method of claim 16 , wherein the remote communication link comprises a wide area network link.
25. The method of claim 16 , wherein the remote communication link comprises a radio link.
26. The method of claim 16 , wherein the remote conimunication link comprises an Ethernet link.
27. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
in response to an error occurring in the operation of one of the fuel cell units, capturing a waveform associated with the error.
28. The method of claim 16 further comprising:
changing a power state of at least one of the fuel cell units in response to the execution of the command.
29. The method of claim 16 , wherein each of the units comprises a complete fuel cell system.