Power Generation unit, is one the companies working on the Department of Energy's Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA). They've built a 5 kW system using their solid oxide fuel cell that's been operating for 2,800 hours and is still going. The main requirement of the DOE program was to develop a fuel cell that could run for 1,500 hours with no performance degradation. Siemens is going to keep running the cell to determine the ultimate lifespan, and efficiency. Delphi is also part of the program, and a fuel cell that they developed had 7 percent degradation in power output over the 1,500 hour time span. Siemens is claiming that the power density of the new cell is for times greater than their previous tubular fuel cell design. This is the first of three phases of the DOE program, which will run over a ten year period. A 5 kW system is obviously not designed for automotive applications but hopefully some of the things that Siemens has learned can be applied to portable fuel cell designs.
[Source: Siemens via GreenCarCongress VIA: autobloggreen.com]
[Source: Siemens via GreenCarCongress VIA: autobloggreen.com]
