There was a lot of interest in the Fronius energy cell prototype at this year's Intersolar – a hybrid fuel cell system that stores solar energy as hydrogen and makes it available upon demand.

Making solar power useable at any time independent of the current weather conditions and time of year requires an adequate storage solution. The storage of excess solar power for periods with little or no sunlight (e.g. at night or over the winter months) is normally accompanied by major losses due to battery self-discharge (5 - 10% per month), making this less energy-efficient and/or even impossible over longer periods of time. In order to make a photovoltaic system a year-round, autonomous energy source, up until now you would have to rely on loud and environmentally-unfriendly gas generators.

The Fronius energy cell is creating new opportunities
The Fronius research team has now developed a completely new concept that will close the cycle between solar energy production, efficient storage and needs-based availability.
An electrolyzer operating on solar power splits water into its basic elements oxygen and hydrogen. The hydrogen is placed in a storage tank and can be used in a hybrid fuel cell when no energy is coming from the solar modules. The fuel cell then converts the hydrogen to direct current and this in turn is converted to regular alternating current by the inverter electronics.
The water produced by the fuel cell during this process can then be reused by the electrolyzer to make more hydrogen.

“Energy efficiency in this case means that solar energy can always be provided to the user with the least amount of conversion losses, and waste heat and reaction water can continue to be reused in this cycle,” according to Ewald Wahlmüller, Project Manager of the Energy Cell Research Team at Fronius.

Now a reality: The hybrid fuel cell
The core of this concept, a hybrid fuel cell with integrated inverter electronics, is already available as a prototype device and was unveiled to the public for the first time at this year’s Intersolar.

The first test systems are already in operation. For example, in Steyr, Austria an environment measurement station is being supplied automatically with power year-round using a PV system and a fuel cell. A major advantage of this backup solution: a 2/3 savings of PV generator output and a significant reduction in the battery capacity. The fuel cell optimizes battery management, which increases the service life of these very cost-intensive components. In addition, power supply security is also increased due to the higher redundancy.

The Fronius energy cell is also being used for the in-house logistics system at the new Fronius production and logistics facility in Sattledt, Austria. Now logistics vehicles can be fueled in just a few minutes with hydrogen instead of the more than eight hours of battery charging. From a technological perspective, this innovative and completely emissions-free transport solution also doubles the range of the vehicle.

“The prototypes are currently undergoing TÜV certification. As soon as this is complete, additional, external pilot systems will go into operation in various applications in 2008. During this pilot phase, Fronius will be defining the schedule for the official market introduction of the energy cell,” says Michael Schubert, Business Development.

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