Homestead Energy: Fuel Cells

I'll be honest.  This particular option is something that I wasn't that familiar with before I started researching.  I had heard about hydrogen fuel cells for cars, but that was about it.  I had no idea that they were in such demand.  And I hadn't even imagined that they had gone past cars to being elegible for home use.  Now, quite frankly, it's my own fault I didn't know any of this.  If one looks, one will see this information out there everywhere.  There is a ton of information about fuel cells, how they work, and places where you can get one.  I just simply put the idea of fuel cells on a back burner of my mind and left it there.  It just never piqued my interest.  You see, the first thing that pops into my head when I hear "hyrdogen fuel cell" is basically just a really loud BOOM!  Think Hindenburg.  And even though NASA has successfully used hydrogen fuel cells in it's spacecraft for decades, the  images that come into my mind are frequently of the mishaps.  But I'll get back to that.

Ok, so the basics of how a fuel cell works is that hyrdogen is sent into the cell.  The hydrogen is split into it's protons and electrons.  Protons pass through an electrolyte, while the electrons are sent through the wires to perform their job creating elecricity.  Then, the electrons are sent back to the other side of the cell, where they are joined with oxygen, and pass as heat and water.  The type of hydrogen, oxygen, and electrolyte are all variables that make the difference between the types of fuel cells that are out there.  It can get a bit complicated, especially if you're fairly unfamiliar with chemistry.  This site seems to do a good job of breaking it down into easily understandable terms, and also goes through the different types of fuel cells, their efficiencies, output, and other useful information.

There is also the idea of a water fuel cell.  This type of fuel cell works in almost the exact opposite way as the hydrogen fuel cell.  In this cell, water is put in and then split into it's separate parts of hydrogen and oxygen using electrolysis.  Now if you start with a basic online search for water fuel cells, you will inevitably come up with a myriad of links to a man by the name of Stanley Meyer.  There, you will find controversy.  Some say he was a scam artist.  Others say he was intentionally discredited and poisoned to death.  I'll leave that for you to decide if you choose to venture into that subject.  However, the idea of water powered cars has been a hot issue the world over.  Many have claimed to have built a working model, only to then disappear into oblivion.  Here is one such example.  For the simple reason that there is so much information on both sides of this issue that make it difficult to determine the true prospects of such a fuel cell, I'm not going to delve too far into this one.  I will, however, give you two ways of building your own water fuel cell.  A word of warning here is that in the latter of the two, the maker states quite clearly that it takes more energy to run the battery than the battery creates.  Those two sites are here and here.  I do believe that there is a great potential here, and if you have the time and inclination to give it a go, then by all means, please do!  I would love to see the results.

Back to the hydrogen fuel cells.  Now you can buy a hydrogen fuel cell fairly easily.  Here is one such place to purchase cells.  Most of the ones you will find will be relatively small, meaning that for anything effective for home use, you will need to stack multiple cells to achieve whatever level you think you will need.  A professional home system, not including installation can average in the neighborhood of about $50,000.  But if you know what you're doing, you can buy smaller units and stack them for a much lower cost.  Especially if you're power usage is going to be minimal.  The other option is to build your own.  If you decide to do this, I beg you to please be very careful.  Hydrogen, while the most common element known in the universe, is also extremely combustable.  It burns hotter and faster than traditional fuels.  Please take all necessary precautions.  A couple of places with instructions are here and here.  And, of course, YouTube is loaded with how-to's.  Most of the how-to's are very simple set-ups that would no doubt have to be adapted in order to successfully utilize them.

Back in the beginning of this post, I mentioned the thought of these fuel cells going BOOM!  There are safety standards in place for the development and sale of these fuel cells.  The thing with the Hindenhurg?  Well, that may not have been the hydrogen so much as the hydrogen combined with other highly flammable parts of the ship.  The newer technologies are attempting to limit the dangers by using containers that are higher in impact resistance, and contain the hydrogen better.  Here is an example of the type of containers for hydrogen that are being used more.  And if you are somewhat hesitant about the safety of these fuel cells, here is an article on safety concerns and standards.

All in all, I do think there is a great deal of potential here.  There are concerns that these fuel cells may not be as environmentally safe as the public is being led to believe.  A good look into the problems and issues with hydrogen fuel cells can be found here.  But they are on the market, and it would appear as if they can do at least some of what they claim.  It may be a good option for off-grid energy.  But for me, it probably would not be my first choice.