Jul 29 2010
NEAH Power Systems, Inc. (OTCBB: NPWZ), the company developing fuel cell based renewable energy solutions, announced today that it has successfully qualified alternate materials that will help to reduce precious metal content in its fuel cell.
Following the successful demonstration of NEAH Power's prototype, the company has been evaluating cheaper components and materials. Derek Reiman, NEAH Power's Director of Manufacturing, said, "We've had precious metals reduction in our crosshairs for quite some time. Now that we have a fully operational system, we have turned our focus to improving lifetime and lowering overall product and manufacturing cost. Given the flexibility of our silicon substrate, we are able to use materials and processes that traditional PEM fuel cells cannot. This has allowed NEAH to qualify multiple non-precious metals and significantly reduce our reliance on gold as a current collector."
NEAH Power's President and CEO, Dr. Chris D'Couto, added: "Given the 40 fold increase in surface area we see from using 3D porous silicon, we are already at the front of the pack in terms of power density. This added surface area also gives us more room to work with in terms of efficient catalyst placement. Our goal is to provide a system that can out-compete a battery not only in terms of capability, but also affordability."