Plug Power Inc (PLUG)

[Autumnforest]

BDW, I agree! And, I am interested in the vast markets that PLUG can enter including military vehicles, commercial cars, and hydrocity - (copied here - ) It seems fuel cells are the answer to many issues and PLUG paves the way - they are not afraid of apply the technology and being full-serve with fueling and fuel cells. I do think this is going to be some interesting weeks ahead and a year ahead that will be blindingly bright!

Hydricity. It’s a concept developed at Purdue, combining two types of solar panels, photovoltaic or PV panels producing electricity and concentrated solar panels, or CSPs, producing heat, fuel cells, and steam turbines to not only produce power efficiently, but to do so 24 hours/day.

This has always been the problem for solar systems. What happens when the Sun goes down? In the past the answer has generally been, batteries. CSP systems like the one at Ivanpah in the Mojave Desert also produce power all night, by using the residual heat from the day’s power production.

In the system proposed by Purdue, the PV systems produce both hydrogen gas during the day, from the steam, which would be used by the fuel cells, at night, to keep the turbines generating power after the Sun goes down. The team claims the system produces hydrogen with an efficiency of 50% and electricity at an efficiency of 46%, more than double the efficiency of the best solar panels currently on the market. Best of all, they don’t need expensive batteries – the system is self-contained.