ECD is Issued a Basic U.S. Patent on Fuel Cell

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich., Sept. 19, 2002; Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD) announced today it has been granted a patent on its Ovonic(TM) Instant Startup Fuel Cell technology by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This patent (No. 6,447,942) covers a fundamentally new non-noble metal catalyst based fuel cell technology and is assigned to ECD's joint venture with ChevronTexaco, Texaco Ovonic Fuel Cell Company LLC.

Ovonic(TM) fuel cell technology has many unique advantages over conventional fuel cells, including the ability to start up instantly, accept recaptured energy, such as that of regenerative braking, increased efficiency and power availability and a dramatic improvement in operating temperature range of -20 to 120 degrees C compared to proton exchange membrane fuel cell which operates over a narrow temperature range. Ovonic(TM) fuel cell technology employs an anode in which the active material is a hydrogen storage alloy with excellent catalytic activity for the formation of atomic hydrogen from molecular hydrogen, outstanding catalytic activity to combine hydrogen ions and hydroxyl ions, and has exceptional corrosion resistance in a corrosive environment such as an alkaline fuel cell. The anode active material is low cost, containing non-noble metals. The materials are robust and poison resistant. The electrodes are easy to produce by proven low-cost production techniques.

Commenting on the patent, Stanford R. Ovshinsky, ECD President and CEO and the principal inventor of the patent, said, "ECD's fuel cell technology is a fundamentally new approach that rectifies the problems that have plagued this field for so many decades and plays an important role in our total hydrogen systems approach that makes the hydrogen economy a realistic one."

Robert C. Stempel, ECD Chairman, said, "Our Ovonic nickel metal hydride batteries have already started the hydrogen economy. Ovonic metal hydride storage materials are the answer to a practical hydrogen infrastructure and this basic patent is a pivotal component in our overall hydrogen commercialization strategy."

ECD is the leader in the synthesis of new materials and the development of advanced production technology and innovative products. It has invented, pioneered and developed enabling technologies leading to new products and production processes based on amorphous, disordered and related materials, with an emphasis on advanced information technologies and alternative energy, including photovoltaics, fuel cells, hydride batteries and hydride storage materials capable of storing hydrogen in the solid state for use as a feedstock for fuel cells or internal combustion engines or as an enhancement or replacement for any type of hydrocarbon fuel. ECD designs and builds manufacturing machinery that incorporates its proprietary production processes, maintains ongoing research and development programs to continually improve its products, and develops new applications for its technologies. ECD holds the basic patents in its fields. ECD's web site address is http://www.ovonic.com .