1. technology and computing

170 years of age and still brand new:
Vaillant affords more
innovations.
the fuel cell
For the further development of the fuel cell heating
The idea of the fuel cell emerged already in 1838, how­
system up to serial production, Vaillant is committed
ever, it was put into practice only in the 1960s: by
to the principle “quality before haste.” And thus, you – as
NASA. Vaillant is striving to integrate this highly efficient
a Vaillant customer – will always be the first to benefit
technology in one-family homes.
from our innovations. Because Vaillant consistently advo­
cates the use of new technologies in order to combine
The fuel cells convert chemical energy directly into
the economic use of resources with high quality of life.
electric energy using electrodes separated by electrolyte.
The fuel cells are combined to form so-called stacks in
Thus, Vaillant has further developed the conventional com­
order to provide the required output. Once the fuel cell
bined heat and power consistently together with Honda
heating appliance is connected to the natural gas mains,
and already offers Europe‘s first micro combined heat and
a reformer first converts natural gas into hydrogen-rich
power system with a high efficient gas engine technology
gas. Then, the gas reacts in the fuel cell stack with the
MicroCHP system ecoPOWER 1.0
for the use in single-family homes.
Why Vaillant?
So new ideas meet with success.
oxygen contained in the air. Here, electricity and heat are
produced in a silent “cold” combustion process.
with gas combustion engine
In 2011 the micro-CHP system ecoPOWER 1.0 was voted to
After checking all kinds of technology, which are inte­
be Germany‘s most sustainable product.
resting for fuel cell heating appliances, Vaillant has been
The combined heat and power is not only an important
developing and testing by now 5 generations of the
contribution to meet the European climate protection
promising SOFC technology.
02/2013 · Technical modifications reserved
targets. More, it will be the future of residential conve­
nience in the one-family home.
The microCHP system developed by Vaillant is operated
with a natural gas engine system produced by Honda.
This engine system generates 1 kW electric power and
2.5 kW heat output via a generator.
With the simultaneous production of heat and electric
power with only one appliance, the primary energy
“natural gas” is optimally utilised. That makes you cash
money for your household. In addition, in Germany the
microCHP systems are subsidised by governmental
Vaillant GmbH
Berghauser Str. 40
42859 Remscheid
Germany
www.vaillant.de
[email protected]
Telephone +49 2191 / 18-0
investment grants as well as the CHP bonus for produced
electricity which is guaranteed for a period of 10 years.
And excess electric power is easy to sell!
Vaillant Innovation: fuel cell heating appliance
The future
Competence in cooperation:
of combined heat and power
ene.field
the large-scale field test
Intelligent energy
for one-family homes
Why just utilise energy once when manifold use is the
By the end of 2011, time has become ripe: Vaillant now tests
The insights and findings from Callux are immediately inte­
The abbreviation SOFC stands for “Solid Oxide Fuel Cell”.
option? With combined heat and power (CHP) you can
the fuel cell heating appliances within the scope of Callux
grated in the development of the next appliance generation.
The electrolyte consists of a solid ceramic material which
generate electric power and heat at the time with one
project („calor“ = heat, „lux“ = light). This field test is the
Vaillant is responsible for the complete system development
conducts oxygen ions but is non-conductive for electrons.
compact appliance installed in your own home – and
biggest nationwide field test for fuel cell heating appliances
of the fuel cell heating appliance in cooperation with strong
This is a high-temperature fuel cell providing high output
thus not only reduce your energy bill but as well your
carbon footprint, i.e. the CO2 emissions.
designed for private homes. It is a project jointly pursued and
partners. The challenges are the validation of technology
and high efficiency using at the same time favourably
promoted by partners coming from the energy industry and
readiness and the attainment of costs in line withe the
priced materials.
the heating industry with the support of the Federal Ministry
market.
Owing to this climate-friendly effect, the Federal
of Transport, Construction and Urban Development (BMVBS).
Government intends to increase the share of electricity
This development of technology is funded by the German
In order to push the market validation Vaillant also partici­
which offers a simple but solid and robust system structure
produced by combined heat and power to 25 % till the
Department of Economics and Technology (BMWi).
pates in other demonstration projects. Vaillant is amongst
and a start-stop function. This system is able to produce at
others partner of the european field test project ene.field,
the same time 2.0 kW of heat and 1.0 kW of electricity. The
year 2020. And Vaillant is quite willingly having its
At present, Vaillant is testing a SOFC heating appliance
share in it. Vaillant offers allready today microCHP
This pathbreaking step from the lab to daily routine with
where more than 130 fuel cell systems will be installed.
fuel cell system is characterised by very low emissions and
systems within a power range from 1 up to 20 kW, with
real operation conditions is a major milestone for the
To ensure that fuel cell heating appliances will save even
noise level.
the ecoPOWER 1.0 also Europes first microCHP system
development of a future series product. Here, this innovative
more precious energy and resources in many homes thus
with highly efficient gas engine technology for the use
technology is proving itself during the 2-3 years of testing
contributing a knight service to our energy turnaround.
in single family homes: CHP systems represent today‘s
in more than 120 single family homes.
most efficient gas technology.
The intelligent microCHP system which is equipped with
fuel cells is environmental-friendly and highly efficient.
It offers high heating and hot water convenience for onefamily homes and at the same time significantly reduced
100 %
+
40 % Heat
20 % Power
40 % losses
100 %
e. g.
ecoPOWER 3.0
65 % Heat
25 % Power
10 % losses
ecoPOWER. The Vaillant cogeneration heat and power unit for large buildings: comparing independent generation and combined heat and power
However, fuel cell technology stands for the future of
innovative combined heat and power. Compared to the
traditional individual generation of electric power and
heat, these innovative systems consume up to 25 %
less primary energy. In addition, CO2 emissions can
thus be reduced by up to 50 %. Here, with this tech­
nology, Vaillant is running extensive field tests.
energy bills.