Patent ID: 8043753

Claim:
A method of operating a newly assembled solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell for aging of the solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell, the solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell including a membrane electrode assembly comprising a pair of electrodes and an electrolyte membrane interposed between the electrodes, the method comprising: a first aging step of performing a hydrogen pump operation in a state where an electric potential is applied to the solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell, by not supplying an oxygen-containing gas to one of the electrodes and by supplying humidified hydrogen to the other of the electrodes to cause the hydrogen to pass through the electrolyte membrane toward the one electrode, wherein a minus electrode electric potential is applied to a cathode as the one electrode, and a plus electrode electric potential is applied to an anode as the other electrode; and a second aging step of performing power generation of the solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell at least at the maximum current density after the first aging step.