Lin K.-MFU-CHENG WANG2021-08-052021-08-0520213603199https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85106615506&doi=10.1016%2fj.ijhydene.2021.03.194&partnerID=40&md5=94db981d1b86a889e390d0289c772315https://scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw/handle/123456789/576132This paper investigates the benefits of distributed hybrid power systems employing multiple fuel-cell vehicles. In earlier work, our optimization of hybrid power systems showed that a single fuel cell acting as backup power to guarantee energy sustainability operates for less than 3% of the time but incurs more than 16% of the system costs. Therefore, the system cost could be reduced when applying a fuel-cell vehicle to dynamically support twelve power stations. Here, we extend this idea by employing multiple fuel-cell vehicles to support more power stations. We develop a power management strategy and optimize the management parameters by the genetic algorithm. The results show a reduction of more than 21% by applying multiple fuel-cell vehicles in the distributed systems. Experiments also confirm the feasibility of using multiple fuel-cell vehicles. Based on the results, the proposed systems are deemed effective for reducing system costs while maintaining system sustainability. ? 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLCjournal article10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.03.1942-s2.0-85106615506