The SOFC system after being installed at the Navy
Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center in Port Hueneme, Calif.
Credit:
U.S. Navy Photo by Michael Ard /released
The fuel cell only needs sunshine and seawater to produce thousands of watts of electricity
Boeing has announced
that, after 16 months of development, it has delivered a "reversible"
fuel cell for the U.S. Navy that stores energy from renewable sources
and generates zero-emissions electricity.
The Solid Oxide Fuel
Cell (SOFC) system, which can generate 50 kilowatts (KW) of power, is
the largest of its kind and can use electricity from wind or solar power
to generate hydrogen gas, which it then compresses and stores. U.S. Navy Photo by Michael Ard /released
The SOFC system after being installed at the Navy Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center in Port Hueneme, Calif. When power is required, the system operates as a solid oxide fuel cell, consuming the stored hydrogen to produce electricity.
The
SOFC system can scale to provide up to 400KW of power. It is being
tested as part of a micro power grid at the Navy's Engineering and
Expeditionary Warfare Center (EXWC) at Port Hueneme, Calif., .
"This
fuel cell solution is an exciting new technology providing our
customers with a flexible, affordable and environmentally progressive
option for energy storage and power generation," Lance Towers, director
of Boeing's Advanced Technology Programs, said in a statement. Creative Commons Lic.
How a solid oxide fuel cell works. A fuel cell is a device that uses stored chemical energy (in
this case, hydrogen) and converts it into electricity. The SOFC device
uses solar power to strip seawater of its hydrogen molecules through electrolysis.
The hydrogen gas can then be stored and later used in the fuel cell
stack where it electrochemically reacts with oxygen in ambient air to
produce electric current, heat and water.
Omar Saadeh, a senior
grid analyst at GTM Research, said the military is an enormous energy
consumer with a high demand for reliability with regard to mission
critical systems; so it only makes sense that they'd invest in a
combination of on-site power generation and microgrid technologies.
"At
forward operating bases, for example, deploying renewables not only
enhances energy efficiency, but more importantly, also reduces the
logistical risk in transporting fuel over distant and often hostile
territory," Saadah said in an email reply to Computerworld.
Microgrids
are small-scale power infrastructures that operate autonomous from the
centralized grid run by utilities. According to a 2015 microgrid study
by GTM Research, the military made up 35% of U.S. operational microgrid
capacity.
While solar power is often promoted as the resource of
the future, natural gas-fired generation accounts for 67% of the
military’s domestic microgrid energy generation, Saadah said.
"This
is due to its rapid dispatchability and reliability as a larger-scale
power source," he said. "That being said, remote bases, which are
smaller by nature, are deploying renewable and storage combinations as
economically viable solutions that to meet today’s energy needs."
The SOFC manufacturers include Boeing in Huntington Beach, Calif. and Sunfire in Dresden, Germany.
The
technology is unique in being able to both store energy and produce
electricity in a single system, making the technology "reversible,"
Boeing said.
"The SOFC is a most promising technology for both
remote islands and expeditionary applications," Michael Cruz, EXWC
project manager, said in a published report.
"Combined with a solar photovoltaic array, a SOFC system generates
electricity, potable water, and heat with only two inputs, sunshine and
seawater."
U.S. Navy Photo by Michael Ard /released 
Creative Commons Lic. 
U.S. Navy Photo by Michael Ard /released 
Creative Commons Lic.