Honda Begins Operation of New Solar Hydrogen Station in L.A. to Refuel FCEVs
By Scott Doggett January 27, 2010
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
Honda today began operation of a next-generation solar hydrogen station prototype, intended for ultimate use as a home refueling appliance capable of an overnight refill of fuel cell electric vehicles.
Honda's latest solar hydrogen station prototype at the automaker's Los Angeles research center. The home version would exclude the sail-resembling screen behind the dispenser.
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Designed as a single, integrated unit to fit in the user's garage - excluding the 700 square feet of solar arrays that would go on the roof - the station reduces the size of the system while producing enough hydrogen (a little over one pound) via an 8-hour overnight fill for daily commuting for an FCEV.
The U.S. EPA defines daily commuting as 10,000 miles per year and that is the definition Honda follows, company spokesman Ed Miller said in an interview with Green Car Advisor.
The typical American one-level 2,000-square-foot house has a roughly 3,000 square feet of roof, so the relatively small space the solar arrays require - 700 square feet - should allow them to be placed on the roof in such a way as to permit maximum sunlight exposure.
The previous-generation system required both an electrolyzer and a separate compressor unit to create high-pressure hydrogen. The compressor was the largest and most expensive component and reduced system efficiency. By creating a new high differential pressure electrolyzer, Honda engineers were able to eliminate the compressor entirely.
That innovation also reduces the size of other key components to make the new station the world's most compact system, Honda claims, while improving system efficiency by more than 25 percent (a value calculated based on simulations) compared to the solar hydrogen station system it replaces.
Compatible with a smart-grid energy system, the next-gen station would enable users to refill their vehicle overnight without the requirement of hydrogen storage, which would lower carbon-dioxide emissions by using less expensive off-peak electrical power.
During daytime peak power times, the station can export renewable electricity to the grid, providing a cost benefit to the customer, while remaining energy neutral.
Designed for simple operation, the system layout enables the user to easily lift and remove the fuel hose, with no hose coiling when the hose is returned to the dispenser unit.
Engineered for an 8-hour, slow fill for overnight refilling of an FCEV, the station would replenish the hydrogen for typical daily driving, meeting the commuting requirements of many drivers. As with the previous generation system, the hydrogen purity from the new station meets the highest SAE and ISO specifications.
Installed at the Los Angeles Center of Honda R&D Americas, the new station will employ the same 48-panel, 6.0-kilowatt solar array that powered the previous system. Honda selected a 6.0-kilowatt array to be carbon neutral, in terms of what the system would take and give to the grid, Miller said.
The array utilizes thin film solar cells composed of copper, indium, gallium and selenium produced by Honda Soltec Co., a subsidiary of Honda. Honda claims its solar cells reduce the amount of CO2 generated during production as compared to conventional solar cells.
Designed to support the needs of the future FCEV owners, the station was also designed to complement a public network of fast-fill hydrogen stations that provide 5-minute full-tank refueling.
The zero-emissions Honda FCX Clarity electric vehicle is fast-fill capable and offers an EPA-estimated driving range of 240 miles.
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Seems to me it would be more efficent to just use the small amount of electricity produced to charge batteries. Then you could skip the ultra expensive fuel cell, the hydrogen generator and the hydrogen storage system.
Fuel cell cars are just electric cars with an overly complicated system of storing the electricity.
Batteries are improving rapidly but fuel cells haven't really changed in years. Their only real purpose now is securing government money from politicians who haven't done their homework.
Plenty of food for thought here, FirstWagon. Seems you agree with En Sec Chu, who as you know wanted to see a lot of federal support shifted away from hydrogen and into what he felt was much more promising alternatives. He did his homework, I think you'd say, but he was slammed by a lot of politicians. --Gotzip
I suppose it comes down to range and refueling time again. 5 minutes refueling an FCEV every 240 miles or the fastest BEV chargers need at least 30 min every 100-120 miles. Day to day commuting the difference probably matters very little, but then you may want to go 500 miles on a weekend trip.
That 500 mile trip would need 10-15 minutes of fueling time for a FCEV, and 2.5 hours in a BEV (of course assuming you could even find appropriate refueling infrastructure).
I think its true that if they double the range of a BEV battery and halve the charge time, the need for an intermediate energy storage (Hydrogen here) will be virtually eliminated, but I don't know if that will ever be physically possible. Clearly many scientists think there will continue to be improvements in battery performance, but I wonder if there is a limit to how far they can go and whether that will be enough.
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