Lifecycle Cost Assessment of Fuel Cell Technologies for Soldier Power System Applications. Paper and Presentation for the 43rd Power Sources Conference held 8-9 July 2008, Philadelphia, PA

摘要

The US Army Communications-Electronics Research Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) Fuel Cell Technology Team has executed a series of development programs over the past several years examining fuel cell technologies for soldier power applications in the 15 to 100-Watt range. The focus of this program has been to demonstrate the feasibility and highlight the benefits of fuel cell systems in hybrid configurations and integrated into specific power applications. Although many technical objectives have been achieved, future procurement decisions will significantly depend on the price differential between various competing fuel cell technologies and the more traditionally used batteries. Recent improvements in the reliability and performance of Soldier power fuel cell systems have resulted in a new focus on future procurement and cost assessments. To date, there is no single source for cost and pricing information on Soldier fuel cell systems. CERDEC intends to focus on the near and long term cost of developing and fielding Soldier fuel cell systems. Surveys were submitted to multiple Soldier power fuel cell system integrators requesting cost data on complete systems and balance of plant components.