Your Home Fuel Cell Power Plant

August 3, 2003 – Vol.8 No.19

YOUR HOME FUEL CELL POWER PLANT.

While hydrogen fuel cell cars may be a decade away, or more, fuel cells that could provide heat, hot water and electricity for homes are pretty much guaranteed to be available in the next couple of years. Plug Power already has one, yet is not yet selling it to homeowners. Honda too, already with experience in selling small power generation equipment, has announced its intent to market home fuel cell generators.

Now, two more companies have jumped into home-sized fuel cell development

Tokyo Gas has announced it will have a 1 kilowatt combined heat and power fuel cell generator on the market in Japan by next year. The company is working with Ballard Power Systems and Matsushita Electric to develop the system. By utilizing waste heat to provide domestic heat and hot water the PEM fuel cell should reach an efficiency of over 70 percent according to Tokyo Gas.

Astris Energi of Ontario Canada has signed a letter of intent with Alternate Energy Corp. to develop a four-kilowatt cogenerating fuel cell for residential applications. Astris will bring its alkaline fuel cell technology to the development workbench and Alternate Energy will supply hydrogen generating technology to the joint venture. Visit Tokyo Gas at http://www.tokyo-gas.co.jp/ , Ballard at http://www.ballard.com/ ,Astris Energy at http://www.astrisfuelcell.com/ .