Patent ID: 7223490

Claim:
A solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack including a plurality of cell units, each cell unit comprising: a membrane electrode assembly in which an anode and a cathode are provided on either side of a solid polymer electrolyte membrane; a pair of separators between which the membrane electrode assembly is placed, the membrane electrode assembly being supported by the separators; a first reaction gas passage defined by the membrane electrode assembly and first grooves that are formed in the pair of separators and extend along surfaces of the membrane electrode assembly; and a second reaction gas passage defined by the membrane electrode assembly and second grooves that are formed in the pair of separators and extend along surfaces of the membrane electrode assembly; wherein in a starting-mode a reaction gas is supplied through the first reaction gas passage so as to locally generate power thereby performing self-heating of the solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack; and in a normal-mode a reaction gas is supplied through the first reaction gas passage and the second reaction gas passage so as to normally generate power, wherein one of the starting-mode and the normal-mode is switchably selected.