Stationary Page 01 Copyright 1996-2002 by Batteries Digest

Advertising  Home  Meetings  Suppliers  Search Tool  Cover Story

GM unveils its first planned commercial fuel cell product. The HyUPS system , a backup power generator, is about the size of a refrigerator and can generate up to 24 kiloWatts for up to two hours. This generator can be used to keep wireless phone towers operating through power outages. Hydrogenics Corp., a partner of GM, along with Nextel Communications, Inc. will field-test the unit in California in the early months of 2002. Other companies involved in the development of this technology are Quantum Technologies Worldwide, Inc. and Giner Electrochemical Systems.(12-01 BD69-11)

After years of touting the availability of stationary fuel cells, the implementations have not met expectations. Plug Power put at 5 kW prototype system in a New York home but pulled it out two years later. The systems are too inefficient and expensive, as perceived by 36% of Popular Science Web site visitors who indicated reliability concerns. Present pricing of $6,000 per kW must come to below $1,000/kW to become interesting to homeowners. Despite the lack of progress, projections are that by 2031, 99% of homes will have fuel cell power. The biggest catalyst for residential stationary power is an environmental crisis or a political problem which leads to the shortage of oil. Platinum, for both the reformer and stack, is not produced in the U.S. but must be acquired from politically unstable regions.