News

US Fuel Cell Council to Release Darnell Study

April 23, 2003 by Jeff Shepard

The US Fuel Cell Council (USFCC) will release the results of its first market study -- "Fuel Cells for Portable Power: Markets, Manufacture and Cost" – at the 5th Annual Small Fuel Cells 2003 conference in New Orleans, May 7-9, 2003. The results will be presented by USFCC Technical Director Robert Wichert at the pre-conference workshop on May 7, at 5:20 p.m. The USFCC will also exhibit at the conference, which has sold out every year.

The market study identifies and quantifies selected portable power markets for fuel cells, evaluates the potential of fuel cells to compete in these markets, suggests high-priority market areas for fuel cell developers, evaluates market sensitivity to cost and identifies cost-reduction pathways likely to result from successful pursuit of portable power markets.

"The ultimate goal of this study was to pinpoint the areas of greatest market potential and evaluate the impact of successful market penetration on fuel cell stack and system design, cost and consumer acceptance," says Robert Rose, USFCC executive director. "With membership from all facets of the fuel cell industry, the Council is well-positioned to support market studies such as this."

The study was performed by Darnell Group under the direction of the USFCC’s Portable Power Working Group, and was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy through the Breakthrough Technologies Institute. The study will be made available May 7 through the "Downloads" page of the Council’s web site.