Imagine a battery-like power source the size of two cans of soda with the ability to power an entire household while reducing its electric bill.

It may sound like some kind of futuristic space science, but researchers at the University of Houston's Texas Center for Superconductivity and Advanced Materials are working toward making this dream a reality.

A breakthrough in thin-film solid oxide fuel cells is being refined in UH laboratories -- a breakthrough that could one day make power plants a thing of the past.

The thin-film SOFCs are one micron thick, equivalent to about one one-hundredth of a human hair. The size equivalent of four sugar cubes could produce 80 watts, enough to power a laptop computer.

The SOFCs would show equally impressive performance in the home.

"Each household would have a fuel cell stack in their garage running off the natural gas already plumbed into most households," TCSAM Director Alex Ignatiev said.

The fuel cells would have an output of 5,000 to 7,500 watts -- enough to power a typical household -- and would operate at better than 55 percent efficiency, compared to the approximately 35 percent efficiency at which power plants run, Ignatiev said.

"We would be able to get almost twice the energy for the same cost of fuel," Ignatiev said.

In cases when a household's power needs were greater than the garage-based fuel cell could supply, additional power could be bought from the traditional power grid, Ignatiev said. Homes could have two-way electric meters installed so that when the fuel cell generated more power than was needed by the household, the extra power could be sold back to the grid, a concept called "distributed power generation."

Thin-film SOFCs may also be able to power automobiles someday.

Cars would need larger fuel cell systems, approximately the size of two gallons of milk. The fuel would also need to be in liquid form for use in cars, so it would likely take the form of methanol, ethanol or diesel fuel, Ignatiev said.

The technology could also be used in the military, where SOFCs could replace heavy batteries in soldiers' packs used to operate computers and other equipment.

It might seem that the development of efficient fuel cells could hurt Houston's largely energy-driven economy, but Ignatiev said that isn't the case.

"The thin-film SOFCs, as all fuel cells, still requires a fuel," he said. "I believe that Houston is the largest producer of hydrogen from petrochemicals; hence, fueling fuel cells could enhance Houston's energy economy."

Formal testing of the thin-film SOFCs is expected to take place within the next six months.