Panasonic Establishes Residential Fuel Cell R+D Centre in Germany

Panasonic has announced the launch of its Panasonic Fuel Cell Development Office Europe (PFCOE) in Langen, Germany.

The new facility located in its European R&D center will work in close cooperation with the European utility companies in formulating residential fuel cells meant for sales in European market.

The Langen centre will concentrate on the development of fuel cells that match and cope with the varied operational conditions of Europe such as the composition of natural gas, an essential element in its operations.

In the fuel cell, a micro combined heat and power system (CHP) makes oxygen in the atmosphere and hydrogen distilled out from natural gas such as CH4, methane to enter into a reactive process to generate electric power. The heat produced as a byproduct of the chemical reaction can be utilized for hot water supply and home heating. In Japan, it is proved that a house utilizing electric power generated from ENE FARM fuel cell will cut down nearly 1.5 t of carbon dioxide discharges every year when compared to a house that utilizes thermal power or gas heating system generated electric power.