Fuel cells convert the chemical energy stored in a fuel, e.g. hydrogen, into electricity. They are one of the most effective technologies for energy conversion known so far and have the potential to significantly contribute to future decentralised electric power grids with a variety of technical advantages. In particular, stationary fuel cells will be able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as well as dependencies on fossil fuels and may also help to compensate efficiently load variations in the power grid caused by fluctuating renewable energy generation, e.g. from solar or wind energy sources.
However, market penetration of fuel cells is currently hampered by comparably high production costs. SOSLeM is tackling this problem by improving production processes as well as developing and applying novel manufacturing technologies for solid oxide fuel cell stacks.