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H Power, NJDOT Puts Fuel Cell Technology to Work

18 June 1998

H Power, NJDOT Puts Fuel Cell Technology to Work, Fuel Cell-Powered Variable Message Signs to Operate on New Jersey Highways

    BELLEVILLE, N.J., June 17 -- H Power Corp. and the New Jersey
Department of Transportation launched the first commercial application of fuel
cell-powered technology with the installation of a Variable Message sign along
a major New Jersey thoroughfare,  marking the first non-experimental,
unsubsidized use of fuel cell technology.
    In March, H Power signed a contract with NJDOT, valued at $749,000, to
retrofit 65 of the machines with fuel-cell powered backup systems. One
solar-powered sign has now been retro-fitted with H Power's revolutionary,
pollution-free fuel cell system as a backup source of power and has completed
testing by NJDOT.  Two more machines are ready for delivery.  The company is
the first to mass-manufacture and put to practical usage a technology that
most thought to be years away.
    At a ceremony to mark the milestone in Belleville, where the company is
headquartered, and to view the signs in action, NJDOT Commissioner John J.
Haley, Jr. congratulated H Power while commenting on the importance of fuel
cell technology to the Department's overall efforts.
    "Fuel cells are clean, safe and reliable," the Commissioner said.  "They
require no maintenance and produce no noise.  They use hydrogen, an abundant,
inexpensive, renewable, safe and non-polluting gas.  The cost of the retrofit
will be realized in just three years, and the fuel cells, of course, will last
for years beyond that.  It is another example of NJDOT using the latest in
technology to better serve our customer."
    H Power Chief Executive Officer Dr. H. Frank Gibbard said that the company
had just completed work on a new, enlarged facility to manage stepped-up
production and incorporation of fuel cell technology into a variety of
products suitable for everyday use.  Commissioner Haley presided at
ribbon-cutting ceremonies for the new facility.
    "We believe that the collaboration between our company and NJDOT has
contributed to an effort that literally makes New Jersey the fuel cell capital
of the world," Gibbard said.  "We have been first to market with a product
that will help do a very necessary job.  And we will be bringing out other
products in the near future that can easily be mass-manufactured and sold at a
profit."
    The Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells used in the signs produce
electricity from hydrogen without combustion by combining hydrogen and oxygen
in the presence of an electrolyte, the reverse of water electrolysis.  Earlier
fuel cell technology, used in the US space program, used an alkaline fuel cell
containing a corrosive liquid electrolyte.  H Power's technology uses a
solid-polymer membrane electrolyte which functions at room temperature, is
non-toxic, and yields fuel cell stacks that are smaller and lighter than those
using higher temperature electrolytes.  The only byproduct of the H Power
technology is fresh water.
    Founded in 1989, H Power Corp., a world leader in the design and
development of fuel cell power systems, has focused on developing products
with the nearest term payoff from fuel cell technology.  H Power initiated
commercial production with low-wattage portable applications as the most
efficient route to the marketplace.  It is also pursuing a strategy to
commercialize electric power generators for stationary and vehicular
applications.  The company has its headquarters and manufacturing facilities
in Belleville, New Jersey.  It also has offices, research and development, and
manufacturing facilities at its subsidiary in Montreal, Canada.