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Practical Power
Quieter than a typical washer and dryer and requiring only six square
feet of property, the stationary fuel cell can be an unobtrusive addition to
living or commercial space
and nitrogen oxide are negligible or eliminated. If the fuel cell is run on a
renewable energy source, such as pure hydrogen, the emissions, includ-
ing CO2, are eliminated entirely.
The Stationary Fuel Cell
ClearEdge Power, founded in 2003 and based in Portland, Oregon,
is a manufacturer and supplier of residential and commercial 5-kilowatt
(kW) stationary fuel cells. When at 100% production, The ClearEdge 5kW
fuel cell produces approximately 43,800 kilowatt hours (kW/h) per year.
The 5kW fuel cell is designed for large residential and small commercial
buildings with substantial thermal demands. In perspective, a California
residence uses, on average, 6,992 kW/h per year, according to a survey
by the Energy Information Administration. Therefore, the average California
resident would only need a 1-2kW fuel cell to efficiently power his property.
If the fuel cell produces more energy than a building requires, the extra
energy is sent to the power company’s grid and counted as kW/h, which
is then credited to the customer.
percent efficient. As far as resource depletion and climate change, this
efficiency is a big deal.”
According to Sager, the fuel cell would be installed on campus near
Harder Stadium and would have an informational kiosk and web-based
interface so people could observe efficiency and consumption levels.
Smaller 1kW fuel cells, called the FCgen-1030, have been designed
by Ballard Power Systems for single-family homes. Three thousand of
these fuel cells have already been installed in Japan, subsidized by the
Japanese government. The Gamma 1.0 (1 kW fuel cell), produced by
Ballard for Baxi Innotech, will also be widely distributed in Germany as
part of the German Callux Project, which aspires to widespread com-
mercialization of the fuel cells by 2012. The Gamma 1.0 is estimated to
provide 100% of a home’s heat demands and 73% of its electrical load.
According to a Ballard Power Systems corporate presentation, “Clean
energy fuel cell products are achieving significant momentum now.”
Return on
Investment and Incentives
ClearEdge Power claims that a 100% return on investment for its fuel
cell can be as little as three years. A fuel cell owner can pay as low as 6
cents per kW for electricity if the heat production feature is also used to
capacity. The average price for electricity from a power plant in a Califor-
nia residence is 14.7 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity. According to
ClearEdge, fuel cell owners can save almost 40% on energy costs im-
mediately following installation.
“Constant power is the big difference between solar, wind, and fuel
cells. Solar and wind provide intermittent power, while fuel cells provide
constant power,” says
Bill Sproull
, Senior Vice President of Corporate De-
velopment at ClearEdge. Intermittent power results from lack of sunlight
or wind, while fuel cells require a consistent fuel source such as natural
gas, propane, or, in some cases, pure hydrogen.
Large, mega-watt fuel cells are currently being used to power uni-
versities, hospitals, and other large commercial buildings. Cal State
Northridge currently has a 1 mega-watt fuel cell on its campus, and Uni-
versity of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) could have a megawatt fuel
cell on campus, soon.
“We were recently chosen by Southern California Edison as one of three
pilot sites to install a stationary fuel cell,” says
Jordan Sager
, LEED (Lead-
ership in Energy & Environmental Design) Program Manager at UCSB. “We
are constrained on the amount of combustion we can have on campus.
Also, we have tight regulations on nitrogen oxide. Fuel cells have low
emissions, especially with the combined heat and power generation. We
are waiting, now, for approval from the Campus Planning Committee.
“With the use of waste heat,” he continues, “the fuel cell is sixty-five-