This paper presents an overview of fuel cells as part of distributed generation (DG) schemes, by discussing the background of fuel cells as stationary, grid connected power sources, briefly compared to conventional thermal electrical generation.
It also presents a view of the current state of commercialisation of fuel cell technology for stationary power applications.
Additionally the current fuel cell research and development at Roll Royce Fuel Cell Systems Limited will be discussed and the design and operation of a stationary 250kW IP-SOFC system as an example of a fuel cell distributed generator will be introduced.