Experts believe fuel cell technology will be a major player and feature in man’s future world. Electricity-generating fuel cells will likely power our every equipment, appliance, and vehicle.
So come fuel cell microgrids. As a natural result, they are on the rise too. The blending of these two technologies is a sensible and wise direction.
What Is Fuel Cell Microgrid Technology?
Fuel cells convert the chemical energy derived from hydrogen fuel into electric power. It works like a battery, which has many individual cells in a stack. But it doesn’t run down as long as it has access to the fuel that generates the electricity.
Microgrid comes in beautifully. It distributes energy resources to serve a specific set of customers. Many US microgrids operate in a connected or islanded setup.
This ensures that customers receive a steady supply. When a power outage occurs on the grid, the microgrid is unaffected and continues to supply power to customers.
What are the Features and Benefits of Fuel Cell Microgrid Innovation?
1. Continuous power.
Microgrids use different generation sources, some of which are short-lived. Like solar energy and energy storage. With fuel cells in combination, the microgrid can run continuously without fail.
2. Clean power.
The fuel cell uses natural, clean power. Like with fuel cell tech on cars, fuel cell microgrid makes for a sustainable planet. It does not introduce pollutants in the environment. With clean emissions, no air permit is often necessary for fuel-cell plants.
3. Cost-effective power.
Advanced fuel cell microgrid will employ power as needed. It will further capture any waste heat byproduct from electric production. The waste heat is usable for warming or cooling any building or establishment.
4. Flexible Placement.
Fuel cells are easy to install. It can accommodate indoor or outdoor setup. They are not land-hungry, so companies do not need a vast land like they do with wind farms or solar farms.
Final Thoughts
Navigant Research predicts that the increasing demand for fuel cell tech and microgrid setup will continue for many years to come. That’s showing to be quite an accurate forecast.
Read More about Fuel Cell in the Picture
