A management device includes a potential usable power calculator that computes a measurement value or an estimated value for a potential usable power which is the amount of power available when the power consumption of an electrical appliance and a potential feed-in amount that can be sold are excluded from the power output from the solar power device; a planned usage determination unit that identifies a planned usage time that a user plans to use a designated appliance; an effective time determination unit that identifies a continuous effective time when a physical quantity representing a state that changes due to the designated appliance using the potential usable power is within a range that is effective for a user; and a scheduler that creates an operation schedule indicating at least an operation start time for the designated appliance on the basis of the planned usage time and the continuous effective time.

The described technology provides an apparatus including a battery gas gauge configured to monitor fuel level in a fuel cell of a battery pack, a standby circuit connected to a power output of the battery, the standby circuit configured to receive an enable signal and in response to receiving the enable signal, generate a wake input signal to wake up the battery gas gauge from a shut-down state.

A portable flame electric generation device having metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells includes a furnace, a heat shield structure, a plurality of metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells and a housing structure. Each of the metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells includes a porous metal substrate, a first anode layer, a second anode layer, an anode isolation layer, an electrolyte layer, a cathode isolation layer, a cathode interface layer and a cathode current-collecting layer. The metal-supported solid oxide fuel cell is capable of quickly starting up and withstanding thermal shocks, and also liquefied fuel cartridges are applied as heating and fuel sources for transforming the CO and H.sub.2 fuels into electricity via electrochemical reactions.

A power supply system includes: a hydrogen generation device that uses electric power to generate hydrogen; a hydrogen storage device that stores hydrogen generated by the hydrogen generation device; a fuel cell system that uses hydrogen stored in the hydrogen storage device to generate electric power; a power storage device; and a control device executing at least one of first control and second control based on an electricity expense, the first control controlling a first ratio between electric power to be supplied from a natural energy power generation device to the hydrogen generation device and electric power to be supplied from the natural energy power generation device to the power storage device, the second control controlling a second ratio between electric power to be supplied from the power storage device to a load and electric power to be supplied from the fuel cell system to the load.

A power management system 1 comprises: a control unit 540 that performs high-temperature maintaining control maintaining a temperature of an SOFC 110 during an operation within a predetermined temperature range; and a specifying unit 530 that specifies a period during which the high-temperature maintaining control should be performed. The control unit 540 performs the high-temperature maintaining control in the period specified by the specifying unit 530.

Devices which internally control and regulate voltage of a super-capacitor cell or stack thereof during charge-discharge cycles, methods for controlling and regulating voltage of a super-capacitor cell or stack thereof with these devices and methods for production of the devices are provided.

A power control apparatus used in a power control system provided with a fuel cell which generates power while a current sensor is detecting forward power flow, a solar cell, and a storage battery comprises a pseudo-output unit configured to generate a pseudo current to be detected by the current sensor; and a controller configured to control the pseudo-output unit. The controller acquires at least one of a charge level of the storage battery and an output value of the solar cell and, based on at least one of the charge level and the output value, adjusts the pseudo current detected by the current sensor to control a power generation amount of the fuel.

For initiating a control function based on a real time available fault current measurement, a measurement module measures an operating voltage, a short voltage, and a ring parameter of alternating current power lines. A processor calculates an impedance of the power lines as a function of the operating voltage, the short voltage, and the ring parameter. The processor further calculates a dynamic available fault current as a function of the impedance. In addition, the processor initiates a control function based on the available fault current.

A power generation system including a first fuel cell configured to generate a first anode tail gas stream is presented. The system includes at least one fuel reformer configured to receive the first anode tail gas stream, mix the first anode tail gas stream with a reformer fuel stream to form a reformed stream; a splitting mechanism to split the reformed stream into a first portion and a second portion; and a fuel path configured to circulate the first portion to an anode inlet of the first fuel cell, such that the first fuel cell is configured to generate a first electric power, at least in part, by using the first portion as a fuel. The system includes a second fuel cell configured to receive the second portion, and to generate a second electric power, at least in part, by using the second portion as a fuel.

A control apparatus includes a control unit which instructs a constant temperature mode to the fuel cell unit as one of operation modes, the constant temperature mode being a mode for performing an control to cover power consumption of the auxiliaries by power supplied from the outside and an control to keep a temperature of the power generation unit constant within a prescribed temperature range. In the constant temperature mode, power output from the power generation unit is at least smaller than the power consumption of the auxiliaries.