A Personal View: Applicability Of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Systems And The Long Term Impact On Ceramics R&D

A historic overview is given which shows the development path leading to the present set of combustion based generators, which are being applied in optimised energy structures. The demand for energy services changes with time. New future infrastructure requirements will be for additional relatively small-scale, decentralised power and heat generators. Reasons are discussed. SOFC-based systems have the potential to provide these energy services better than conventional combustion based generators. This is discussed on the basis of different SOFC system concepts. Recent field-tests look very promising, indicating that SOFC technology approaches implementation. Finally, the impact of different applications on ceramics R&D is discussed.