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SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG, technology and market leader for mobile and off-grid power solutions based on fuel cells, announced recently that the Wall Street Journal has selected the company as a winner of one of its 2009 Technology Innovation Awards. The global competition honors companies for technological breakthroughs in energy, the environment, computing systems, consumer electronics, medical devices, software and other fields. SFC Smart Fuel Cell receives the award in the energy category for its JENNY fuel cell.
The JENNY portable fuel cell is an environmentally friendly, portable power supply for soldiers in the field. It reduces their battery-load weight by up to 80 percent, while providing reliable, clean, silent energy for equipment such as night-vision goggles, laptops, communication and GPS devices and sensors.
“This award confirms our continuing global leadership in off-grid, portable power solutions”, said Dr. Peter Podesser, CEO of SFC Smart Fuel Cell. “We see significant potential for more fuel-cell based energy supply solutions for industrial, leisure and defense markets.”
The JENNY fuel cell, which can be either worn on soldiers’ vests or used to operate remote devices in the field, weighs only 3.7 lbs (1.7 kilograms), while the fuel cartridge with 11.8 oz (350 ml) of methanol weighs less than 13 oz (370 grams). The fuel cell provides enough power for a 72-hour mission, ensuring that even in remote terrain, far from any power source, soldiers will have a dependable energy supply.
SFC Smart Fuel Cell has shipped more than 15,000 fully commercial products to industrial and private end users in the past five years, while most other fuel cell manufacturers are in the research and development phase or are operating subsidized demonstration projects.
This is SFC’s second major award for the JENNY fuel cell. In October 2008, the JENNY won third prize in the U.S. Defense Department’s Wearable Power Prize competition against nearly 170 entrees.
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