BOILERS
The future’s in fuel cell
T
he ways in which we generate and use household energy are changing radically as the industry looks for clean alternatives to fossil fuels and increased efficiency. At the same time, we're seeing an increasing decentralisation of power generation and a proliferation of micro self-generating systems.
These developments are being pushed at a policy level – with varying degrees of determination and consistency – out of a necessity to meet emissions targets, halt climate change and find alternatives to diminishing resources. And they are also increasingly being driven by consumers keen to reduce their reliance on the national grid and free themselves from spiralling energy costs, while doing their bit for the environment. It's not hard to see why: who wouldn't want to generate their own electricity and reduce their bills if they could do so affordably and easily? In a world that's becoming more and
more connected, with developments such as the Internet of Things and electric and driverless vehicles gaining momentum, our reliance on electricity is only expanding. So the need to find ever more efficient, sustainable and affordable ways to meet demand is becoming increasingly pressing. The house of the future will provide green electricity for electrical appliances and vehicles, and deliver heat from renewable energy sources. In this context, the time is right for Viessmann’s Vitovalor 300-P, the micro combined heat and power (CHP) boiler based on a fuel cell. Unveiled in the UK in 2015 as the world’s first mass-produced fuel cell boiler (and one of the few heat-led fuel cell products to have been developed), the Vitovalor’s efficiency secret is its use of hydrogen as an energy source. A litre of hydrogen contains almost as much energy as three litres of petrol. Hydrogen has already proven its suitability as an energy source for fuel cells in vehicles and ships many times over and is being used more and more in residential settings.
January 2019 With a compact footprint of just 0.65m2 of photovoltaic cells – sufficient to ,
the Vitovalor generates as much power as 30m2
cover the base load of most households and enough to power an electric car. Power storage systems allow surplus power to be stored on site, optimising the rate consumed versus exported, taking into account recorded power consumption data. This translates into a reduction of additional, expensive power drawn from the grid.
The Vitovalor story so far
Last January, the Vitovalor became much more affordable, largely as a result of Viessmann’s participation in the EU-funded PACE fuel cell project. It also has microgeneration scheme certification (MCS), entitling owners to claim around £6,000 over 10 years from the UK government’s feed-in-tariff, offering customers a return on their investment of less than five years compared to a standard gas boiler/hot water system replacement. This makes it as affordable as a premium boiler installation, but with the additional benefit of producing electricity as well as heat. Launched comprehensively in the UK in
The Viessmann’s Vitovalor 300-P is a fuel cell boiler which uses hydrogen as an energy source
The Viessmann Vitovalor 300-P fuel cell domestic heat and power appliance scooped the Sustainable Product of the Year at the HVR Awards. Christian Engelke, Viessmann technical director, makes the case for this stepping stone to clean-energy, connected homes
The Viessmann team wins the Sustainable Product of the Year at the HVR Awards 2018
2018, initial installed volumes are just a fraction of the penetration seen in Germany and Japan, however, early customers are not only praising the Vitovalor’s environmental credentials and the satisfaction of making their own electricity; they are pleased with the compact nature of the unit, which consumes the floor space of a fridge freezer and washing machine sitting side- by-side – and that includes everything: fuel cell, boiler and hot water cylinder. Incorporation into an existing heating system is also simple, old or new, without any major modifications. So far, we have trained around 100 UK heating installers to fit the Vitovalor. They are coming to us because they see a demand for fuel cell. Reducing energy bills while improving comfort and quality of life are big drivers. For more and more people, it's becoming a no-brainer. The Vitovalor forms part of Viessmann's vision for next generation living spaces in which heating and power are seen as part of a wider energy picture encompassing decentralised, self-generated power, electric vehicles and neighbourhood electricity exchanges – all with minimal environmental impact and maximum efficiency, flexibility, adaptability and user control.
Viessmann believes the pathway to this
low-carbon, decentralised future is paved with incremental efficiency improvements, such as the fuel cell, which deliver efficiency savings now while preparing the built environment for low carbon technologies in the future. There is a tendency sometimes to want to find an answer that will take us to the end goal in one jump, then we do nothing because it's not possible. We need to think of this as a journey. A key advantage of fuel cell technology is that, as well as being available and affordable now, it can be easily retro-fitted to existing domestic heating systems. And it's future-proofed. It's a big step forward we can take immediately.
www.heatingandventilating.net
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