• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Fuel Cells

Over many years, Toshiba Group has been engaged in the development of residential fuel cell systems in order to reduce CO₂ emissions from homes.

Co-generation system for Homes That Reduce CO₂ Emissions and Provide Hot Water

Residential fuel cells are systems that produce electricity through electrochemical reactions. They not only heat water with the heat generated by these reactions, but also provide “on-site energy” generated at the site where they are used, meaning there is no power transmission loss. Residential fuel cells also discharge almost no air pollutants generated from burning gas and are attracting attention as clean energy systems.

Toshiba has been engaged in the development of phosphoric acid fuel cells for many years. We have been working on the development of 1-kW class residential fuel cells since 2000 based on the experience and know-how accumulated over these years. We have succeeded in commercializing ENE•FARM (made by Toshiba Fuel Cell Power Systems Corporation), the only fuel cell for both city and LP gases, designed to be compact and lightweight. ENE•FARM, which makes effective use of waste heat, is estimated to reduce CO₂ emissions by about 1 ton (40%) per system compared with the level before its installation.

Striving toward Promoting Residential Fuel Cells and Reducing CO₂ Emissions through the Development of Products That Lead the Industry in Performance

Installing 748 fuel cells in homes that participated as monitors in a large-scale field test project launched by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2005, we designed ENE•FARM based on the knowledge gained from the project. Accordingly, our fuel cell model, which weighed 170 kg before the test, was made more compact, with its weight reduced to 104 kg and the area required for its installation reduced to 2.5 m². We also designed the model to have a low noise level, achieving a level not exceeding 40 dB, which is equivalent to the level of a library. The ENE•FARM model requires regular maintenance only once every two years, for about 30 minutes each time. Thus, we have succeeded in developing a product that leads the industry in durability and costs. We will continue our development in order to further improve the performance of our products.