RFC combined with solar photovoltaic (PV) array is the advanced technologic solution for on-board energy storage, e.g. land, sky, stratosphere and aerospace applications, due to its potential of achieving high specific energy. This paper focuses on mass modeling and calculation for a RFC system consisting of discrete electrochemical cell stacks (fuel cell and electrolyzer), together with fuel storage, a PV array, and a radiator. A nonlinear constrained optimization procedure is used to minimize the entire system mass, as well as to study the effect of operating conditions (e.g. current densities of fuel cell and electrolyzer) on the system mass. According to the state-of-the-art specific power of both electrochemical stacks, an energy storage system has been designed for the conditions of stratosphere applications and a rated power output of 12 kW. The calculation results show that the optimization of the current density of both stacks is of importance in designing the light weight on-board energy system. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.