FUEL CELL INVESTMENT WILL IMPROVE ENERGY LEVELS IN REMOTE COMMUNITIES

Generac Power Systems has made an equity investment in Watt Fuel Cell Corp., a Pennsylvania-based developer and manufacturer of low emissions solid oxide fuel cell stacks and systems.

Watt produces commercial SOFC products for small scale and remote power applications, including marine, RV, military, oil & gas and residential applications.

The SOFC units generate electricity from hydrogen molecules derived from any of several fuel options, including propane, natural gas or hydrogen.

The company’s Imperium fuel cell for home standby applications is a 1 kW hybrid SOFC unit that operates on natural gas. Generac and Watt plan to collaborate on the design and development of low-emission solutions supporting the resiliency needs of Generac’s customers. The companies will combine Watt’s fuel cell technology with Generac’s clean energy portfolio of products, which includes microinverters and battery storage system solutions.

“We are excited about this investment in Watt Fuel Cell and look forward to collaborating towards the integration of this advanced technology into the Generac Home Energy Ecosystem,” said Patrick Forsythe, chief technical officer at Generac.

“Generac is the perfect partner to assist us in accelerating the development and commercialization of our fuel cell power generation technology,” said Caine Finnerty, president and co-founder of Watt.

“Generac’s strong expertise in residential home resiliency and clean energy products will provide access to a national base of installation partners, thereby accelerating the path to a low carbon future. We look forward to all the incredible opportunities ahead.”

Scale Microgrids has signed a contract to design, build, own and operate an off-grid clean energy microgrid providing cheaper, cleaner and more reliable power for Almond World’s refrigerated cold storage facility.

This comprises two 250,000 sq. ft. buildings built to hold approximately 50 million pounds of almonds or other crops for farmers and processors.

Cold storage for California’s agricultural industry is a critical link in the supply chain.

The facility in Madera is expected to provide shortand long-term storage and will increase profitability, extend almond shelf life by up to two years, and simplify hold costs and logistics when it becomes operational later in 2023.

The new microgrid system will include 1,200 kW of rooftop solar. Storage of the solar energy will be provided by a

1,200 kW/ 2,400 kWh battery system. The system will also include two 1200 kW natural gas generators.

“Central California produces 60% of all the nuts and citrus consumed in the U.S. each year, the almond industry alone produces 80% of the world’s global supply,” comments Adam Hayner,, involved with the project.

“We believe that these new cold storage facilities will support local farmers through empowering them to more efficiently manage the sale of their crops over longer periods and ultimately to deliver higher profitability. To achieve this, we are building temperature-controlled storage.”