FuelCellsWorks

Israeli fuel-cell startup CellEra has kept its activities under wraps since it raised $2 million from Israel Cleantech Ventures last year. But a German press release from angel investor group BrainsToVentures has revealed the company has raised another $2 million, from BrainsToVentures and Israel Cleantech Ventures, and has developed its first prototype. CEO Zin Gottesfeld confirmed the news, telling us the cash represents part of a larger round.

Gottesfeld also told us CellEra already is working with a major manufacturer and is integrating its fuel cells into backup power systems. CellEra plans to use its new cash to turn its working prototype into its first commercial product, he said, adding that the company aims to have products ready for the market in two years.

According to the release, CellEra believes it can cut fuel-cell development and manufacturing costs by more than 70 percent by eliminating the most expensive material – platinum. The precious metal, which is by far the costliest part of a fuel cell, is normally used as a catalyst to create the electrochemical reaction that converts hydrogen, air and water into electricity.

The key to CellEra’s platinum-free fuel-cell technology is its proprietary electrodes, Gottesfeld said, which are the positively and negatively charged areas where the reaction takes place. The company isn’t developing the platinum-free catalysts itself, instead working with partners that use raw materials such as iron, cobalt or silver, he added.

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Even apparently identical twins can differ in their appetite. The discovery of two crystals identical in appearance and chemical formula – and even with the same crystal symmetry – turn out to differ wildly in their capacity for storing hydrogen, much to the surprise of the chemists who made them.

The finding hints that there may be a previously unknown class of crystals that would be useful for gas storage or catalysis.

Hong-Cai Zhou at Texas A&M University in College Station and colleagues discovered the new crystal forms as part of their search for materials that will hold large quantities of hydrogen or methane to act as future fuel tanks. Like rival teams, they are concentrating on a family of crystalline compounds of metal ions and organic molecules called metal organic frameworks.

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A modular fuel cell technology can convert just about any fuel into clean electricity using a chemical process.  Technology Management, Inc., of Cleveland, plans to market this distributed energy solution within the developing world where they don’t have power, enabling them to grow their own.

Last month, I got a call from Benson P. Lee, CEO of Technology Management, Inc (TMI), which is a developer of a fuel cell system that can convert just about any fuel into clean electricity using a chemical process, without modification of the system from one fuel to the next.

TMI, based in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, has a 1 kilowatt solid oxide fuel cell system and is preparing for field testing with end user applications.  The plug-and-play 1 kW systems are modular, which means they can be configured in multiples when more power or redundancy is required. Each 1 kW system is small enough and light enough to be handled by one person.

The slogan on their website is: “Developing fuel cells for use anywhere, anytime, by anyone.”

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LATHAM, N.Y.,– Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq:PLUG), a leader in providing clean, reliable energy solutions today announces that it signed a commercialization agreement with CITIC GuoAn Mengguli Power Science & Technology Co., Ltd. (MGL), a leader in advanced lithium-ion batteries and materials, for the joint marketing and sales of their co-developed high power lithium-ion battery systems into automotive applications.

In its on-going effort to improve performance and reduce cost of its GenDrive™ products for the material handling market, Plug Power began the development of a lithium based hybrid battery system to replace its nickel-metal hydride hybrid batteries. In November, 2008, Plug Power partnered with MGL to develop an advanced lithium based platform that could be easily configured to meet a range of applications.

Plug Power led the mechanical development as well as creation of a robust battery management system to ensure product performance and safety. MGL focused on optimizing its high power lithium cells and establishing the manufacturing capacity for the cells and the finished battery systems. By the fall of 2009, Plug Power had successfully introduced these products into its class-2 and class-3 GenDrive power units.

Based on the successful introduction of the lithium battery systems into GenDrive products, it became evident that other adjacent markets could also benefit from this sophisticated and configurable technology. While Plug Power and MGL intend to address global market opportunities, the most significant near term market for their battery system technology supports the rapidly growing Chinese hybrid automotive industry. Through this agreement, Plug Power and MGL will first introduce their products to the Chinese automotive industry, where “New Energy” sponsored programs are supporting the deployment of at least 500,000 hybrid and pure electric vehicles over the next four years.

“Plug Power’s GenDrive products have realized significant improvements in both performance and cost through the introduction of this lithium battery system technology,” said Adrian Corless, Plug Power’s CTO. “Plug Power and MGL are now able to use this flexible technology platform to design, build and sell hybrid battery systems which extend into automotive applications that share similar requirements to our GenDrive products.”

“Plug Power is encouraged to see this sophisticated technology adopted into hybrid vehicle applications,” said Andy Marsh, CEO for Plug Power. “Plug Power and MGL are able to build upon a solution developed specifically for our GenDrive product requirements and satisfy the needs of a complimentary business. Most importantly, we were able to do this with limited investment from either company.”

“We are very pleased to continue to expand our technical and business relationship with Plug Power,” said Dr. Wang Yahe, General Manager for MGL. ”We believe that both companies will significantly grow their businesses by addressing the large new market opportunities in automotive hybrid battery systems.”

About Plug Power Inc.

Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq:PLUG), an established leader in the development and deployment of clean, reliable energy solutions, integrates fuel cell technology into motive and continuous power products. The Company is actively engaged with private and public customers in targeted markets throughout the world. For more information about how to join Plug Power’s energy revolution as an investor, customer, supplier or strategic partner, please visit www.plugpower.com.