Milestone Met in Fuel Cell Development

摘要

Squeezing more watts of electric power from smaller and smaller volumes of fuel cell materials is one of the "holy grails" of fuel cell developers. Combined with advances in mass production, such improvements in a fuel cell's "power density" could provide one of the much needed technological leaps that could make this environmentally attractive technology economically competitive with today's traditional ways of generating electricity. Now Delphi Corp., a partner in the U.S. Department of Energy's advanced fuel cell development program, has reported that it has exceeded the power density level required to meet the government's $400 per kilowatt cost goal for fuel cells. Meeting the cost target is essential if fuel cells are to expand beyond their current niche markets into widespread commercial use.