Inverter is key to fuel-cell success

摘要

The media periodically go into a fuel-cell frenzy, rhapsodizing about the possibility of using these cells as a near-perfect source of electrical power. And why shouldn't they? Fuel cells combine air-derived oxygen with hydrogen from hydrocarbons, such as natural gas, and quietly produce electricity, heat, and water vapor (Figure 1). Fuel cells produce no polluting emissions, such as those you would get from a conventional turbine or internal combustion engine, and virtually no moving parts. It all seems so simple, pure, and natural.