Reply #17: Fuel cell prices declining rapidly-DOE , cheaper than other power options by 2010 [View All]

[philb]

Rapid price declines in fuel cell production prices, some fuel cells projected to have lower price than other utility power options by 2010 or 2012, according to DOE

SECA is administered by the Energy Department through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The SECA program is currently structured to include six competing Industry Teams: FuelCell Energy, Delphi, General Electric, Siemens Power Generation, Acumentrics, and Cummins Power Generation.
The SECA Program (www.seca.doe.gov) will bring about dramatic reductions in fuel cell costs, cutting costs to as low as $400 per kilowatt by the end of this decade, which would make fuel cells competitive for virtually every type of power application. The SECA initiative is developing a modular, all-solid-state fuel cell that could be mass-produced for different uses much the way electronic components are manufactured and sold today.
Recent testing of these prototypes has demonstrated giant leaps made toward fuel cell commercialization. Manufactured with a scalable mass-production technique, these SOFC prototypes have exceeded all of SECA's Phase I targets for availability, efficiency, endurance, and cost. Representative data include an availability of 90 percent, over and above the SECA Phase I target of 80 percent, and an efficiency of 41 percent in a 5.4 kW system, surpassing the first SECA target of 35 percent. And most significant of all, the $746/kW system cost is well on its way to $400/kW by 2010.
Siemens achieves major milestone in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell program
Siemens Power Generation announced the successful testing of its latest solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology that incorporates its high power density technology being developed under the U. S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA). A prototype 5 kW-class complete system using the SECA technology has operated for 2,800 hours and continues to operate at the Siemens facility near Pittsburgh, PA. It has met or exceeded all of the DOE technical and economic objectives for Phase 1 of the SECA program.

Fuel Cell Energy SOFC program achieves all DOE SECA phase I goals , Oct 23, 2006
FuelCell Energy utilizes the cell and stack design of its technology team partner, Versa Power Systems Inc. (VPS), for all its SOFC development programs. VPS has been engaged in SOFC development since 1997 and is considered a world leader in SOFC cell and stack technology.
VPS provided the 3kW prototype stack and system for FuelCell Energy's DOE SECA Cost Reduction project, initiated in April 2003. In recently-completed Phase I testing, the 3kW SOFC prototype system operated for over 2000 hours and successfully met or surpassed all DOE performance metrics for power output, efficiency and degradation (life).

GE and Delphi Meet Stack Cost Goal
SECA Industry Team participants Delphi and General Electric have made significant advances in the reduction of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack costs, surpassing the SECA target for 2006. The estimated costs were $294/kW for a 4.24kW Delphi system; and $254/kW for a 5.4kW GE system. Both teams easily bettered the GPRA SECA goal of <$300/kW. Meeting this latest target puts both Delphi and GE on track towards meeting the SECA goal of <$400/kW system cost by 2010. (4/06)


new coal plants are $3000/KW