NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Fuel Cell Backup Power 

Technology Validation

J. Kurtz, S. Sprik, T. Ramsden, G. Saur

Intelec 2012: 34th International 

Telecommunications Energy Conference

Scottsdale, Arizona

October 1, 2012

NREL/PR-5600-56785
2

What is a Fuel Cell?

• Fuel cells efficiently convert chemical 

energy into electricity through an 

electrochemical process without burning 

•Represent an alternative to batteries, 

generators, internal combustion engines 

to provide power for portable electronics, 

stationary, transportation & other 

applications

H2 PEM Fuel Cell

•Advantage

– High efficiencies for energy conversion

– 40%-50% electrical efficiency (LHV of H2)

– ≥80% including utilization of waste heat

– High energy density 

– Indefinite operating time as long as fuel is 

provided (refuel vs. recharge)

– Scalable from mW to MW

– Emission-free for H2 PEMFC

– Quiet operation

•Disadvantage

– Cost

– Lack of fuel infrastructure

– Production

– Storage

– Distribution
3

Objectives – Relevance

• Assess Technology

o Independent technology assessment in real world operation conditions

o Focused on fuel cell system and hydrogen infrastructure: performance, operation, and 

safety

o Leverage data processing and analysis capabilities developed under the fuel cell vehicle 

Learning Demonstration project

o Material handling equipment, backup power, portable power, and stationary power.

• Support Market Growth

o Analyses and results relevant to the markets’ value proposition

o Reporting on technology status to fuel cell and hydrogen communities and other key 

stakeholders like end users

Assess the technology status in real world operations, establish 

performance baselines, report on fuel cell and hydrogen 

technology, and support market growth by evaluating 

performance relevant to the markets’ value proposition. 
4

Hydrogen Secure Data Center – Approach

CDPs

DDPs Results

Internal analysis 

completed quarterly

Bundled data (operation & 

maintenance/safety) 

delivered to NREL quarterly

Composite Data Products (CDPs) 

• Aggregated data across multiple systems, 

sites, and teams

• Publish analysis results without revealing 

proprietary data every 6 months2

Detailed Data Products (DDPs) 

• Individual data analyses

• Identify individual contribution to CDPs

• Only shared with partner who supplied 

data every 6 months1

1) Data exchange may happen more frequently based on data, analysis, and collaboration

2) Results published via NREL Tech Val website, conferences, and reports

Confidential Public
5

Backup power CDP count and category

Infra. Operation

(6)

Fuel Cell Reliability

(4, 10)

Fuel Cell Operation

(5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 

15)

Deployment

(1, 2, 3, 14)
6

Deployment: 75% sites are between 4 – 6 kW

0 2 4 6 8 10 Inf 0

50

100

150

200

250

Capacity by Site

Capacity [kW]

Number of Sites

75%

NREL cdp_bu_14

Created: Sep-28-12 10:46 AM
7

2009 Q32009 Q42010 Q12010 Q22010 Q32010 Q42011 Q12011 Q22011 Q32011 Q42012 Q12012 Q2 0

500

1000

1500

 50 70 70 104 130

 444

 500

 761

1065

1378

1449 1453

Deployed kW Capacity for Backup Power

Cumulative Deployed Capacity [kW]

NREL cdp_bu_02

Created: Sep-13-12 11:59 AM

Deployment: Over 1.45 MW capacity is deployed 

with 649 systems

2009 Q32009 Q42010 Q12010 Q22010 Q32010 Q42011 Q12011 Q22011 Q32011 Q42012 Q12012 Q2 0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

 10 14 14 31 44

204 232

357

494

625 647 649

Backup Power Fuel Cell Systems Deployed

Cumulative Systems 1,2 Deployed

NREL cdp_bu_01

Created: Sep-13-12 11:59 AM 1) Sites may have more than one FC system

2) Not all FC systems are supplying operation data
8

1-10

11-20

21-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

61-70

71-80

81-90

91-100

>100

NREL cdp_bu_03

Created: Sep-28-12 10:47 AM

State kW Capacity Sites

Arizona 84 16

California 567 122

Colorado 24 5

Connecticut 121 26

Florida 6 1

Georgia 50 1

Illinois 4 2

Indiana 50 16

Kentucky 22 4

Massachusetts 10 1

Michigan 164 40

New Jersey 110 27

New York 186 44

South Carolina 50 1

Utah 36 9

Totals 1484 315

Site Capacity (line height proporational to installed site kW capacity)

Number of

Sites in State

Backup Power

Deployments

Deployment: Sites in 15 states
9

Reliability: 99.5% successful starts

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

Starts

Starts by Month

07/0908/0909/0910/0911/0912/0901/1002/1003/1004/1005/1006/1007/1008/1009/1010/1011/1012/1001/1102/1103/1104/1105/1106/1107/1108/1109/1110/1111/1112/1101/1202/1203/1204/1205/1206/12

Calendar Month

1526 of 1533 Starts Successful (99.5%)

52% Conditioning Starts

Starts

Conditioning1 Start

Successful Start

0

15

30

45

60

75

90

105

120

135

150

Reporting FC Systems

NREL cdp_bu_04

Created: Sep-13-12 6:37 PM 1) FC system conditioning is an automated operation for regular

system checks; activitated after long periods of no operation.
10

EStop: 1

No Fuel: 1

System Failure: 5

Unsuccessful Operation Categories

NREL cdp_bu_10

Created: Sep-28-12 10:29 AM

Reliability: Only 7 unsuccessful starts out of 1,533 

attempted starts
11

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Inf 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Operation Hours

Number of Systems [%]

25% of systems have hours > 10.3

Max system hours = 51.5

System Operation Hours

NREL cdp_bu_13

Created: Sep-28-12 9:43 AM

Operation: Runtime hours tend to be low due to low 

required operation but some months and systems see high 

operation time

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

07/0908/0909/0910/0911/0912/0901/1002/1003/1004/1005/1006/1007/1008/1009/1010/1011/1012/1001/1102/1103/1104/1105/1106/1107/1108/1109/1110/1111/1112/1101/1202/1203/1204/1205/1206/12

Calculated Runtime [hours]

Run Hours by Month

845 Total Runtime Hours

Run Hours

Conditioning1 Hours

REL cdp_bu_05

 1) FC system conditioning is an automated operatio 

 
12

Operation: Systems are capable of extended 

runtimes (72-hour capacity)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Inf 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Continuous Run Time [hours]

Starts [%]

Continous System Run Time

Max Continuous Run Time = 29 hours

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Continuous Run Time [Mins]

Starts<=60 mins [%]

NREL cdp_bu_09

Created: Sep-28-12 9:34 AM
13

Grid outages: Association of system starts and grid 

outages

Some states see double digit 

grid outages a year with a few 

hours per outage

Often an outage has had 

extended down time

Couple fuel cell system 

operation data with OE-417 

Electric Emergency and 

Disturbance (OE-417) Events, 

2010-2012*

Submissions of all Electric Emergency Incident and Disturbance Reports (OE-417),

http://www.oe.netl.doe.gov/oe417.aspx
14 14
15 15
16 16
17

Operation: Automatic system operation is capable of rapid 

restarts as well as long durations between starts

1 2 7 14 28 31 Inf 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Days

Frequency [%]

Time Between Starts

NREL cdp_bu_11

Created: Sep-28-12 9:29 AM
18

Operation: 42% of starts occur off-peak between midnight 

and 5 a.m. 

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 0

5

10

15

20

25

System Starts by Time of Day

Starts [%]

Time of Day

Starts

Conditioning1

 Starts

NREL cdp_bu_08

Created: Sep-13-12 12:04 PM 1) FC system conditioning is an automated operation for regular

system checks; activitated after long periods of no operation.
19

Operation: Systems demonstrated operation in a wide range 

of ambient temperature with a keep warm strategy in 

ambient conditions below freezing

<0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Ambient Temperature [oC]

Frequency [%]

Ambient Temperature at Start

NREL cdp_bu_12

Created: Sep-13-12 12:06 PM
20

Cost of ownership: Example of annualized cost analysis for 

material handling that will be applied to backup power systems

CDP Ref #: 58

Fuel

Infra.

Hardware

Warehouse 

Space

Fueling 

Labor

Maint.
21

Cost of ownership: Backup power

Fuel Cell* Diesel Battery

Reliability + o +

Capital Cost ($/kW) - + ++

Extended Run Time ++ ++ --

Emissions ++ - ++

Noise + + ++

Environmental ~ - ~

Weight + - -

Efficiency + - ++

Annual Fuel Cost + - ++

Annual Maintenance Cost + - ++

Maintenance Frequency ++ - ?

Refurbishment + + --

Conditioning Tests + - ~

Operation Lifetime + ++ --

Gathering data on:

• Site Description

• System Description

• System Requirements

• Capital Cost

• Operating & Maintenance 

Cost

• Operating Lifetime

for fuel cells, batteries, and 

generators

*Tax credit $3,000/kW or 30% total
22

All published results can be found at

http://www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/proj_fc_market_demo.html

Jennifer Kurtz

jennifer.kurtz nrel.gov

303-275-4061

@

Fuel Cell Backup Power

• Operating reliability 

in 15 states with 

99.5% successful 

starts

• Maximum 

continuous run time 

of 29 hours due to an 

unplanned grid 

outage

• Aggregated data 

showcases growth 

over the last two 

years
23

Backup Slides

23
24

CDP-BU-06

Cumulative Hydrogen Consumed by Month

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

07/0908/0909/0910/0911/0912/0901/1002/1003/1004/1005/1006/1007/1008/1009/1010/1011/1012/1001/1102/1103/1104/1105/1106/1107/1108/1109/1110/1111/1112/1101/1202/1203/1204/1205/1206/12

Calendar Month

Hydrogen kgs Consumed

Cumulative Hydrogen Consumed by Month

76.9 kgs Total Consumed H2

30,222 scf Total Consumed H2

NREL cdp_bu_06

Created: Sep-13-12 12:04 PM
25

CDP-BU-07

Fuel Cell System Starts by Day of Week

Sun Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

System Starts by Day of Week

Starts [%]

NREL cdp_bu_07 Day

Created: Sep-13-12 12:04 PM