The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) “is proud to be a pioneer in the field of fuel cell technology,” said chairman Richard M. Kessel. “LIPA believes that fuel cells hold the key to achieving true distributed generation that makes economic and environmental sense. Installation of this unit will help us better understand the issues associated with the integration of fuel cells at customers’ facilities where heat produced by the units can also be used.”

The GenSys 5C, which is based on the company’s proprietary technology, captures the heat generated during the production of electricity and makes it available for integration into a heating or hot water system. The system is said to be capable of generating 5 kW of electricity and 9 kW of heat, and is available immediately, with an expected order-to-delivery lead time of eight to 10 weeks.

“Our extensive field experience and market engagement activities over the past two years have allowed us to incorporate direct customer feedback into the GenSys 5C product,” said Mark Sperry, vice president and chief marketing officer for Plug Power. “The increased efficiency achieved by capturing and utilizing the heat generated within the system enables a lower total cost of energy, which is critical to our customers.”

The company says it has been awarded multiple patents pertaining to combined heat and power fuel cell products. The patents cover the use and control of an integrated fuel cell system for providing electricity and domestic hot water to a building.

According to the company, GenSys 5C was evaluated and certified by CSA International (CSA) and is certified as compliant with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard for fuel cell power plants. The power conversion system was evaluated by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and is listed as compliant with the standard for inverters, converters, and controllers for use in independent power systems. The unit conforms to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) standards for electromagnetic compliance (EMC).

For additional information, visit www.plugpower.com (website).

Publication date: 08/12/2002