Bloom energy!?!?

Pretty cool stuff! Anybody else heard of it!?!?

http://www.bloomenergy.com/

Bloom Energy delivers Better Electrons™

All electrons are not created equal. Only Bloom Energy delivers electrons that are clean and reliable and affordable… all at the same time… and just for you. That makes them better electrons.

Bloom's Energy Servers™ help you to

Lower your energy costs and eliminate volatility
Save the environment and save money
Improve your energy security and reliability
Start small and "pay as you grow"
Get access to power quickly
Our simple, modular, building-block architecture is easy to install and easy to buy.

Bloom manages and maintains the system 24/7/365. All you see are the benefits from better electrons.

 

Good find, this is the first I have read about this. I'm gonna research it a little more and see if I can introduce it to a few customers of mine.

 

Didn't bother reading to deep into this but.....clean electrons? lulz. Either they are crazy or thats the only way they can describe a subatomic control to someone who hasn't had more than chemistry...

The only way you can "get power quickly" is through a large bank of capacitors for sudden high voltage draw...

 

The Bloom Energy Server is a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) made by Bloom Energy, of Sunnyvale, California, that uses liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons (such as gasoline, diesel or propane[1] produced from fossil or bio sources) to generate electricity on the site where it will be used; Bloom Energy representatives assert that it is at least as efficient as a traditional large-scale coal power station.[2][3] According to the company, a single cell (one 100mm × 100mm metal alloy plate between two ceramic layers) generates 25 watts.[4]
The Bloom Energy Server uses thin white ceramic plates (100mm × 100mm)[5] which are claimed to be made from "beach sand" but are in fact scandia stabilized zirconia ScSZ. Each ceramic plate is coated with a green Nickel oxide[disambiguation needed] -based ink on one side (anode) and another black (probably Lanthanum strontium manganite) ink on the other side (cathode).[6] According to the San Jose Mercury News, "Bloom's secret technology apparently lies in the proprietary green ink that acts as the anode and the black ink that acts as the cathode--" but in fact these materials are widely known in the field of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Wired reports that the secret ingredient may be yttria-stabilized zirconia based upon a 2006 patent filing (7,572,530) that was granted to Bloom in 2009; but this material is also one of the most common electrolyte materials in the field.[7]. US Patent Application Publication US 2008/0261099 A1 which is assigned to Bloom Energy Corporation suggests that the secret ingredient is scandia stabilized zirconia ScSZ. ScSZ has a higher conductivity than YSZ at lower temperatures which provides greater efficiency and higher reliability when used as an electrolyte in SOFC applications. Scandia is scandium oxide (Sc3O2) which is a very scarce rare earth metal oxide that is sold between US$1400 to US$2000 per kilogram in 99.9% form. Current annual world wide production of scandium is less than 2000 kilogram and most of the 5000 kilogram used annually is sourced from limited former Soviet era stock piles.

Installation

The current cost of each hand-made 100 kW Bloom Energy Server is $700,000–800,000. In the next stage, which will likely be mass production of home-sized units, Sridhar hopes to more than halve the cost of each of home sized Bloom servers to under $3000.[6] Bloom estimates the size of a home sized server as 1 kilowatt, although cNet News reports critical estimates recommend 5 kW capacity for a residence.[18]
The capital costs according to NewsWeek magazine is $7–8 per watt. [2]
[edit] Usage

On 24 February 2010, Sridhar told Todd Woody of The New York Times that his devices are making electricity for 8–10 cents/kWh using natural gas, which is cheaper than today's electricity prices in some parts of the United States, such as California.[19][20] Twenty percent of the Bloom Energy Server cost savings depend upon avoiding transfer losses that result from energy grid use.[18]
Bloom Energy is developing Power Purchase Agreements to sell the electricity produced by the boxes, rather than sell the boxes themselves, in order to address customers' fears about box maintenance, reliability and servicing costs.[17]
Fifteen percent of the power at eBay is created with Bloom technology; after tax incentives that paid half the cost eBay expects "a three-year payback period" for the remaining half, based on California's $0.14/kWh cost of commercial electricity.[21]

 

They interviewed the guy on 60 minutes several months ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6DLyruTqHI