How our decentralized SOFC system meets your requirements

More output with less input: Besides drawing on renewable energy sources, the goal of an energy supply system must also be to use these sources as efficiently as possible in order to save valuable resources and reduce its ecological footprint, thereby reducing its energy costs.

With our Bosch SOFC system, we generate electricity at efficiencies of approximately 60 percent. An overall efficiency of up to 90 percent is possible if waste heat is utilized. Our SOFC system enables sector coupling directly on site. In addition to electricity as the main output, the heat cogenerated by the fuel cell can be used, for example, for nearby residential buildings.

When using natural gas as fuel, the fuel cell emits approximately two-thirds less carbon than conventional coal-fired power plants. When running on pure hydrogen, the SOFC system generates electricity and heat without any CO₂ emissions at all.

The Bosch SOFC system keeps pace with digitalization. Every system is connected to the cloud. As an IoT device, it can acquire and link data based on the digital twin, a virtual model of the fuel cell. Service and maintenance personnel are then able to access data at any time and monitor the system in real time. And the SOFC takes this one step further, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI). AI enables predictive maintenance, which has a number of advantages, including a longer service life, reduced downtimes, and a reduction in manual, routine monitoring. Over the long term, it will be possible to integrate the solid oxide fuel cell system into existing ecosystems – for example, in power management and building automation platforms.

The energy transition requires that we move away from fossil fuels like coal and oil. The future is in renewable energies and pure hydrogen, which can be used to generate carbon low-emissions, efficient electricity.

However, a conversion to pure hydrogen doesn’t happen overnight. This is where the Bosch SOFC system comes into play, because it can already be fueled by natural gas or biomethane and, in the future, by pure hydrogen, making fuel cell technology an important element for successfully transforming the energy sector today.

However, the Bosch SOFC system offers even more flexibility. Depending on requirements and power consumption, it will be possible to use several of these systems together in the future to create a decentralized power supply system in the megawatt range. The system output can be modulated in line with requirements. One SOFC system offers an electrical output of 100 kilowatts. That is sufficient to cover the power supply needs of a comparable edge data center or the average power consumption of the residents in an entire urban district.

All the standardized plug-&-play SOFC system needs to generate power is fuel in the form of natural gas, biomethane, or hydrogen. Because our SOFC system is supplied ready-made, there is no risk of potential installation errors. Since the SOFC system also uses the existing gas infrastructure, power can be generated independently of the grid and electricity from the SOFC system can even be fed into the power grid. In this case, the gas network simultaneously serves as an energy storage system.

Moreover, the energy is produced right where it’s needed and no longer has to be transported via power lines spanning kilometers. A decentralized power supply is also more reliable and resistant to power outages.

The individual units of an SOFC system are independent elements connected together with all the relevant auxiliary systems to form a stable 100 kW system offering exceptional availability. The system’s modular design ensures it is versatile and can be adapted to suit requirements.

With SOFC systems, security of supply can be maintained independently of grid stability and shutdowns. This is especially important when supplying energy to critical infrastructure like healthcare, the food industry and food trade, water supply, and wastewater disposal, and even transportation and telecommunications.