No. 22: On fuel cell Ene Farm (November 30, 2011)

Household fuel cell was put on the market in 2009 under the uniform name of Ene Farm. The latest thermal plant generates 53 power out of fuel with 100 energy amount, and the remaining 47 is heat waste. Out of the 53 power, 48 is delivered to households because loss incurred in power distribution is unavoidable. Whereas, Ene Farm that generates by dint of the reaction between hydrogen collected form gas and oxygen supplies a household with 36 power and 45 heat (hot water) because it uses waste heat generated in power generation.

The present Ene Farm employs a solid polymer molecule fuel cell that uses high molecule electrolyte. In the initial stage, an Ene Farm was priced at 3,500,000 yen and a subsidy of 1,400,000 yen was available for the purchase. It is now 2,800,000 yen with a 1,050,000 subsidy. The price reduction can be attributed to reducing the generation capacity from 1 kW to 750 watts and decreasing the number of parts, in addition to the technological development to optimize the system to each household.

About 5,000 Ene Farms were sold in 2009. The sales increased to 7,000 units in 2010. Because of the growing concern since the Fukushima disaster, the sales as of July 7 2011 were about 8,000 units. Because a taxation incentive is offered to those who purchased an Ene Farm, the sales are expected to grow further in the future. In addition to decreasing a unit price, what is required is to increase the generation efficiency and develop a system to install an Ene Farm in a housing complex where demand is averaged.