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EFOY Fuel Cells Now Included in Westfalia Mobile Homes

Source : efoy

  • EFOY fuel cells available for the first time as special equipment in Westfalia mobile homes
  • Reliable, emission-free power supply with EFOY fuel cells for Westfalia’s “James Cook” model

    • Brunnthal/Munich, Rheda-Wiedenbrueck –Westfalia has joined other leading European manufacturers of mobile homes in selecting EFOY fuel cells for its vehicles. Effectively immediately, customers who buy the Westfalia series “James Cook” can have their new vehicle equipped with EFOY fuel cells ex works, giving them even more independence and comfort on board. EFOY fuel cells—more than 14,000 of which have been sold around the world—are now offered as an optional accessory in the Westfalia product line. They reliably provide mobile homes with power without generating any harmful emissions, thereby guaranteeing maximum freedom far away from the power grid.

    “We appreciate the increase of flexibility that fuel cells offer our customers”,” said Sven Duebbers, Managing Director at Westfalia. “We have built in EFOY fuel cells in the “James Cook” due to customer requirement multiple times by now: The installation is easy and the fuel cell blends in well in the vehicle. We are looking forward to our customer’s experience and feedback”.

    “We are very proud that our EFOY fuel cells are available as of now in Westfalia’s motorhome legend, ‘James Cook’”, said Dr. Peter Podesser, CEO of SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG. “This again proves that an ever-growing community of mobile home owners is convinced by our products, because they offer independence and maximum comfort on board the vehicle“.

    EFOY fuel cells come in five models, ranging from 600 to 2200 watt hours charging capacity per day. With a consumption of less than one liter of fuel, they provide economically, environmentally-friendly and comfortable power supply for mobile homes, far away from the power grid. The related EFOY M5 and M10 fuel cartridges with five or ten liters of fuel can be bought at more than 1,200 sales points throughout Europe.

    The “James Cook” is one of the best-selling motor homes in its class. This year, the classic by Westfalia has been selected “motorhome of the year” by readers of “promobil” magazine for the 19th time. The legendary mobile home design is appealing because it provides high quality, intelligent features and maximum functionality in a very small space. With a comfortable double bed in the living area and two additional sleeping-places in the comfortable loft conversion it provides enough space for up to four travellers. The interior is rounded off by a practical kitchen unit in L-shape and the sanitary area with sink, shower base and case toilet. The “James Cook” includes crash-tested safety technology like ABS, ESP and driver and co-driver airbags.

    SFC Smart Fuel Cell will display the EFOY fuel cells at Stand A36, Hall 13, at the Caravan Salon in Duesseldorf, from 29 August to 6 September 2009.

    Westfalia presents its product novelties at Caravan Salon Duesseldorf: Hall 12, A06-01 & A06-02.

    Additional information is available at www.efoy.com, www.sfc.com and www.westfalia-van.de

    About SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG

    SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG (www.sfc.com) is market leader in fuel cell technologies for mobile and off-grid power applications serving the leisure, industrial and defense markets. As one of Germany’s technology pioneers, SFC has won numerous innovation awards. SFC has alliances with leading companies in a wide range of industries. Unlike most other fuel cell manufacturers, who are in the research and development phase or run subsidized demonstration projects, SFC has shipped more than 14,000 fully commercial products to industrial and private end users for more than five years, and has created a convenient fuel cartridge supply infrastructure. SFC is DIN ISO 9001:2000 certified. SFC is based in Brunnthal, Germany, and has a sales and technical service office in the U.S.

    August 28, 2009 - 4:18 PM No Comments

    Eura-Mobil Integrates “EFOY Fuel Cells Plug and Play” Kit

    Source : sfc

    Brunnthal/Munich and Sprendlingen–Eura Mobil, a mobile home manufacturer based in Sprendlingen, Germany, has selected EFOY fuel cells as a standard “plug and play” solution for its high-end Activa, Contura and Integra models. Eura Mobil now integrates the wiring for operation and assembly attachment of EFOY fuel cells in these models ex works. This means that with a simple click, mobile home owners can install the fuel cells and get them up and running. Eura Mobil thus joins the many leading equippers of mobile homes that have selected EFOY fuel cells—which can be installed right in the factory upon request—for independent, environmentally-friendly energy supply.

    The “EFOY Plug and Play” installation kit offers our customers real added value and enables them to install EFOY fuel cells in their mobile homes easily and uncomplicated,“ said Dr. Holger Siebert, Managing Director of Eura Mobil. “This enhances our position as a manufacturer of mobile homes offering fully independent power facilities. Along with our double-floor design and large water tank capacities, EFOY fuel cells provide mobile home owners with the ultimate in freedom, allowing them to maximize their leisure time“.

    “We are delighted that Eura Mobil, a leading manufacturer of mobile homes, promotes the integration of our EFOY fuel cells”, said Dr. Peter Podesser, CEO of SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG. “Eura Mobil consequently focuses on high autarchy and independence in motor homes. With our EFOY fuel cells we support thereby with quiet, lightweight power supply far away from the electrical grid”.

    EFOY fuel cells are now pre-installed or available as an accessory from 48 mobile home manufacturers throughout Europe. Five different models are available, ranging from 600 to 2200 watt hours charging capacity per day. The related EFOY M5 and M10 fuel cartridges with five or ten liters of fuel can be bought at more than 1,200 sales points throughout Europe.

    SFC Smart Fuel Cell will be exhibiting its EFOY fuel cells at the Caravan Salon in Duesseldorf from August 29 to September 6, 2009, Hall 13, Booth A36.

    Additional information is available at efoy.com and sfc.com

    About SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG
    SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG (www.sfc.com) is market leader in fuel cell technologies for mobile and off-grid power applications serving the leisure, industrial and defense markets.  As one of Germany’s technology pioneers, SFC has won numerous innovation awards.  SFC has alliances with leading companies in a wide range of industries.  Unlike most other fuel cell manufacturers, who are in the research and development phase or run subsidized demonstration projects, SFC has shipped more than 14,000 fully commercial products to industrial and private end users for more than five years, and has created a convenient fuel cartridge supply infrastructure. SFC is DIN ISO 9001:2000 certified. SFC is based in Brunnthal, Germany, and has a sales and technical service office in the U.S.

    August 28, 2009 - 1:00 PM No Comments

    U.K. Technology Strategy Board (TSB) Awards £9m to Aid Hydrogen Fuel Cell Development

    Source :

    Energy technology companies are set to receive £9 million of funding for projects involving fuel cells and hydrogen technologies, it was announced today (August 28).

    The government sponsored Technology Strategy Board (TSB) is to invest the money, along with a further £500,000 from government agency the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), into nine hydrogen fuel cell projects.

    The projects will look to tackle the challenges related to hydrogen generation, storage and utilisation as part of the TSB’s plan to accelerate the adoption of hydrogen energy in the UK and develop a sustainable hydrogen supply.

    The funding is specifically targeted lowering the costs of developing fuel cells for stationary, transport and portable power markets, while improving reliability, durability and performance levels of low, intermediate and high temperature systems.

    Projects

    One of the beneficiaries of the money is a project led by Loughborough-based Intelligent Energy, which is looking to develop enhanced fuel cell systems for commercial and passenger vehicles. Later this year, work is scheduled to start with the aim of reducing the cost and enhancing the performance and longevity of the company’s fuel cell engines, which it currently supplies to Peugeot-Citroën and Fuel Cell Taxi vehicles.

    Another, led by ACAL Energy, seeks to build and install what the TSB call “the world’s first” fuel cell system using low cost platinum free cathode technology. The three-year project will research, build and test a practical an inexpensive 1kW remote environmental monitoring system, using platinum-free cathode technology.

    Other projects to be funded include:

    • Novel Processes and Designs for High Volume membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) Manufacture, led by Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells Ltd, with HumiSeal Europe Ltd, Marlin Precision Manufacturing Ltd, University of Bradford.
    • Component Development for Improved MEA and Stack Stability, led by Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells Ltd, with Calcarb Limited, Intelligent Energy Ltd, Loughborough University, NPL Management Ltd, Technical Fibre Products Ltd, University of Birmingham.
    • Innovative Air Cooled Fuel Cell Power Systems for MHE, lead by Intelligent Energy Ltd, with other partners to be announced.
    • High Performance Low Temperature Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells, with Johnson Matthey plc, Queen’s University Belfast.

    Details on the three other projects have not yet been released.

    Investment

    The TSB focuses on energy generation and supply and works with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the research councils, the Energy Technologies Institute (ET) and the Carbon Trust to ensure that programmes in this area are complementary.

    Today’s announcement is the second investment by the TSB in the development of new technology for the energy generation and supply sector following July’s announcement of nearly £5 million toward projects advancing hydrocarbon recovery and improving the environmental performance of oil and gas operations.

    Filomena La Porta, lead technologist at the TSB, said: “Fuel cells and hydrogen technologies are priority areas for our investment as new technologies can contribute to tackling the UK and EU climate change targets and security of energy supply challenges, while at the same time they can provide significant market opportunities for British companies. We expect the technologies that will be developed to help us make real progress towards market adoption.”

    August 28, 2009 - 12:40 PM No Comments

    Mercedes-Benz Launches New Fuel Cell Car: Mercedes-BenzB Class F-CELL

    Source : FCW

    729948_1324065_400_243_09c745_29 729945_1324056_400_269_09c745_26

    Mercedes-Benz is launching its first series-produced fuel cell car on the road: the new B‑Class F-CELL. The environmentally friendly electric car has better a performance similar to than a 2,0-litre petrol car and is fully suited for everyday driving. The zero-emission drive system consumes the equivalent of 3.3 litres of diesel per 100 kilometres in the NEDC (New European Driving Cicle). Production of the B‑Class F-CELL will commence in late 2009 with a small lot. The first of around 200 vehicles will be delivered to customers in Europe and the USA at the beginning of next year.

    The new fuel cell vehicle offers everything that people expect from a Mercedes-Benz: High comfort and safety as well as no reduction in interior space and boot capacity. Customers will not have to sacrifice any driving pleasure either, because the electric motor has a peak performance of 100 kW/136 hp and a maximum torque of 290 Nm, which is available from the first rotation. It ensures that the B‑Class F-CELL, whose impressive dynamic handling properties are in some cases far better than those of a two-litre petrol car, gets off to an excellent start. Despite these qualities, the zero-emission fuel cell drive consumes the equivalent of only 3.3 litres of diesel fuel per 100 kilometres (NEDC). Thanks to its great range of about 400 kilometres and short refuelling times of around three minutes, the B‑Class F-CELL ensures local zero-emission mobility even for long stretches.
    “2009 is the year in which we are establishing further milestones where sustainable mobility is concerned. The B-Class F-CELL is taking on a pioneering role as the world’s first fuel cell powered automobile to be produced under series production conditions”, says Dr. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Group Research and Development for Mercedes-Benz Cars.
    The vehicle’s technological heart is the new generation of the compact, high-performance fuel cell system, in which gaseous hydrogen reacts with atmospheric oxygen at 700 bar to generate a current for the electric motor. The fuel cell system of the B‑Class F-CELL has a very good cold-start capability even at temperatures as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius. The drive system was completely newly developed versus the F-CELL A-Class presented in 2004, with Mercedes-Benz engineers achieving considerable improvements in output, torque, operating range, reliability, starting characteristics and comfort. The B-Class F-CELL now offers driving pleasure and day-to-day suitability at Mercedes level – without local emissions.
    As in hybrids with combustion engines, the fuel-cell car uses a lithium-ion battery with an output of 35 kW and a capacity of 1.4 kWh to boost power and recover braking energy. Lithium-ion technology offers several advantages over conventional batteries, including compact dimensions, high performance, great recharge efficiency and a long service life.
    The B‑Class F-CELL employs the unique sandwich floor architecture that is well-known from the A- and B-Class. The advantage of this design is that the drive components are located in the sandwich floor, where they are protected and don’t take up much space so that the vehicle’s interior remains fully usable and a boot capacity of 416 litres is available.
    The B-Class F-CELL does not need to fear comparison where equipment is concerned either. Eye-catching features include a bonamite silver paint finish and exclusive light-alloy wheels in a 10-spoke design. In the interior, leather upholstery, seat heating, automatic climate control and the COMAND-system, as well as other features, continue to ensure a high level of comfort.
    Same level of safety as in other Mercedes cars
    No matter what the conditions, the operational reliability of the B‑Class F-CELL is of the same high level as in Mercedes vehicles with conventional combustion engines. The B‑Class F-CELL’s integrated safety concept takes the specific characteristics of the innovative drive system into account. The concept incorporates the expertise from the many years of experience Mercedes-Benz has had with fuel cell drives and high-voltage applications. Mercedes engineers have tested and optimised the drive-specific components’ safety in more than 30 additional crash tests.
    Network of filling stations required for car’s widespread use
    With more than 100 test vehicles and a combined total of over 4.5 million kilometres of trial testing, Daimler and Mercedes-Benz have the most extensive experience with fuel cell vehicles of any manufacturer worldwide. The B‑Class F-CELL is further testimony of this technology’s high level of development for automotive use. However, a comprehensive network of hydrogen filling stations still has to be set up before locally zero-emission driving can become a widespread reality. To make this possible, Daimler is cooperating with government authorities, energy utilities and oil companies in joint projects in places such as Hamburg, Stuttgart and California.
    Mercedes-Benz views the development of electric cars with battery and fuel cell drives for local zero-emission driving as a means of supplementing vehicles with high-tech internal combustion engines. Advanced diesel and petrol engines will remain important for automotive applications for a long time to come - not only for individual mobility in passenger cars - especially over long distances - but, more importantly, for freight transport in trucks. Electric vehicles, on the other hand, will increasingly be used in urban transport.
    Mercedes-Benz B‑Class F-Cell technical data
    Drive
    Electric motor with fuel cell
    Rated output (kW/hp)
    100/136
    Rated torque (Nm)
    290
    Maximum speed (km/h)
    170
    Consumption (NEDC) (l of diesel equivalent/100 km)
    3.3
    Total CO2 (g/km min.–max.)
    0.0
    Range (km) NEDC
    385
    Capacity of lithium-ion battery (kWh/kW)
    1.4/35
    Cold-start capability:
    to -25 °C
    August 28, 2009 - 8:00 AM No Comments

    U.S. Army Post recognized for fuel cell initiative

    Source : u.s army

    Post recognized for fuel cell initiative

    Photo credit Fort Jackson Leader staff report

    Col. Lillian Dixon, garrison commander, accepts the Palmetto Pillar Award for Green Technology Initiatives during a ceremony Aug. 20. Also pictured, from left, are Neil McLean, Dale Johnston and Lonnie Emard from the Columbia Information Technology Council. The award is presented to companies or organizations for green technology-based projects.

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — Fort Jackson was recognized as a leader in green technology in the Midlands for the installation of hydrogen fuel cells as back-up power in three on-post facilities.

    The installation was awarded the 2009 Palmetto Pillar Award for Green Technology Initiatives in a ceremony Aug. 20. The award recognizes a Midlands-area green technology-based project and is presented by the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce Information Technology Council.

    “It’s a recognition by the local community as we work to pursue the promise of alternative energy,” said Scott Nahrwold, deputy garrison commander. “It’s a pleasure for us to be able to participate in a small way in that effort, and we really appreciate the initiatives on the part of the Department of Energy, the South Carolina Research Alliance, the city of Columbia and the state of South Carolina for all that they’ve done in cooperation with us to bring this particular project to reality here at Fort Jackson.”

    The 10 hydrogen fuel cells were installed earlier this year as primary back-up power at the Directorate of Information Technology, the Directorate of Emergency Services and the Energy Management Control Center.

    Because hydrogen is a byproduct that can be easily captured as waste from various commercial plants, the catalyst of the fuel cell energy is free, with no wasted energy. There are also no emissions from the fuel cell-generated electricity.

    Organizations and companies are nominated for the award by professionals in the information technology field.

    Fort Jackson was nominated by Jesus RosaVelez, DOIM director, whose organization received six of the hydrogen fuel cells.

    “I believe in green technology applications that are both economically viable and environmentally sound. The fuel cells installed at Fort Jackson fit those categories,”
    RosaVelez said. “I did not hesitate to nominate the installation and take great pride that we actually won the award, which shows recognition of our commitment by the community.”

    August 28, 2009 - 7:37 AM No Comments

    Fuel cell manufacturer ClearEdge Power raises $15m funding round

    Source : newnet

    Oregon-based ClearEdge Power has raised $15m in a funding round, according to reports.

    The company is backed by the Kohlberg Family, Big Basin Partners and Applied Ventures, although no details on who led the current round were disclosed.

    ClearEdge is a developer of fuel cell technology for both businesses and homes.

    August 28, 2009 - 6:52 AM No Comments