If you want to be able to place these components in other pages which may have forms you should come up with some naming scheme to avoid overlapping form names.

On your actual question, have you thought about using AJAX? You could call an appropriate method and replace the contents of just that component in place. It obvioulsy introduces certain browser requirements, but it will not depend nor interfere with any other form elsewhere on your page (since the page itself never gets submitted).

PS: I agree with s_m_b that invisible fields are not necessarily bad. Used in the right way they can be quite nutritious and non-toxic.