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26 MICROPOWER: THE NEXT ELECTRICAL ERA COOL ELECTRONS 27 watt Plug Power unit was installed in the garage of a ranch- style house in June 1998 in Latham, New York; the dish- washer-sized system supplies the house’s entire power needs during all but peak periods. GE MicroGeneration, a Plug Power-General Electric joint venture, plans to market this system and others sized up to 35 kilowatts to residences and small businesses worldwide beginning in 2001. Others devel- oping residential systems include Northwest Power Systems, Avista, and Ballard, which is working with Japanese firms Ebara and Tokyo Gas to adapt its fuel cells to that nation’s housing market.55 Larger systems for industrial and commercial use are approaching readiness, with several hundred 200-kilowatt PAFC units from firms like ONSI (now International Fuel Cells) operating in the United States and Japan, and with units of up to 500 kilowatts under development by many others. An estimated 85 organizations are researching or developing stationary PEM systems. Ballard plans to start sell- ing 250-kilowatt systems, sufficient to run a medical or busi- ness center, in 2001 with multiple units linked up as needed. Fuel cell developers are also exploring combinations with gas turbines to boost efficiency. Siemens Westinghouse is work- ing on a 220-kilowatt solid oxide fuel cell/microturbine sys- tem with an electrical efficiency of about 57 percent.56 Other players are focusing on appliance-sized or smaller systems. Matsushita is developing 1.5- to 3 kilowatt cells; Sanyo is working on 1- to 2-kilowatt units; and H Power, which is emphasizing backup power, telecommunications, and transport applications (such as retrofitting road signs), is selling units in the 35- to 500-watt range. Fuel cells could also eventually supplant batteries in portable electronics, perhaps allowing cellular phones that run on standby for months, or laptops that operate for over 100 hours without needing to be recharged. Some experts believe that miniature fuel cells will displace batteries sooner than their larger versions will overtake the ICE: the former can tap several times more ener- gy at a lower price and weight. They can also be refueled quickly, whereas batteries require lengthy recharging.57 Also descending from space to Earth is the solar photo- voltaic (PV) cell, the world’s second-fastest-growing energy source. PV cells employ the “photoelectric effect” discovered by Edward Becquerel in 1839, using semiconductor chips to create electric current. Utilized first in a host of off-grid applications where grid-based power was too costly or inac- cessible—communications satellites, navigational buoys, highway roadsigns, handheld calculators—solar cells are now beginning to enter the grid-connected market in resi- dences and on commercial rooftops thanks to a fourfold cost decline since 1980. (See Figure 2.) Marketed by firms like BP Solarex, Astropower, and Kyocera, these are typically 2- to 5- kilowatt systems, which can suffice to meet a residential household’s needs.58 Other niches where PVs are emerging include solar shingles and window-glass-integrated systems, which have FIGURE 2 World Photovoltaic Price and Cumulative Shipments, 1980–99 25 U.S. Dollars Per Watt (1998) 20 15 10 5 Megawatts 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 Price Shipments Source: See endnote 58. 00 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000PDF Image | Micropower: The Next Electrical Era
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