ᐅ Methanol as a Long-Term Energy Storage Solution for Fuel Cells in Residential Buildings

Scout schrieb:

What would be the cost for, say, a 10 kW photovoltaic system and 5 kW nominal heat output?

nordanney schrieb:

What is the purchase price? What about operating costs? Are self-consumption costs taken into account?

untergasse43 schrieb:

Prices can be found from time to time, but they generally range around 200,000 to 300,000 CHF for the first commercially available system.

We can assume that a new technology or new application of technology is initially expensive. In series production, prices usually decrease, as we have seen with heat pumps or photovoltaic systems. Combined with initial subsidies and shifts in energy prices, the economics of such an investment change. I don’t think the first installations will have an attractive payback period, but rather provide satisfaction to buyers in other ways. I personally wouldn’t mind paying a significant premium if I could disconnect from the grid provider. However, it’s not at that point yet.

I find the concept simple, comprehensible, and logical.

untergasse43 schrieb:

Otherwise, it’s probably not unlike Picea.

I see the parallels as well. I simply like the passive storage medium. Fill a tank and that’s it — just like in the old days with oil. Similar space requirements as oil or pellets and refillable externally when needed.

Strahleman schrieb:

That sounds a bit like dry-cell, where electricity is used to produce oxyhydrogen gas from water, which can then be used for heating.

A key difference is that these HHO generators do not produce a (practically) storable energy carrier but burn the produced oxyhydrogen gas directly. I have not looked further into it. I lack the courage and knowledge to store oxyhydrogen gas as an energy carrier in the house.

The statement that they aim for production costs under 1 euro per liter makes me skeptical. If that were economically viable, they wouldn’t need to collect money like that. An energy provider would have long since bought the patent.

hanghaus2000 schrieb:

An energy supplier would have bought the patent a long time ago.

1€ per liter of methanol (approximately 0.8kg) provides about 3.3 kWh with a fuel cell at 75–80% efficiency, which is roughly 33 cents per kWh. This could be affordable for consumers within five years, but it remains very expensive for energy suppliers. They operate business models based on centralized production, regional network monopolies, and protective lobbying efforts. Currently, they are not interested in this.

I would prefer an underground diesel tank with a capacity of a few thousand liters (a few hundred gallons) and a power generator. 😀

I find it puzzling that affordable methanol fuel cells for end consumers are not being promoted yet. Instead, it seems that there is a strong focus on greenwashed batteries for private cars and residential homes, regardless of the drawbacks…

Yes, the range of fuel cell options is quite limited, and the prices are reasonable considering their performance. Since fuel cells are generally not well suited to deliver peak loads, combining them with battery technology makes a lot of sense – although this naturally doesn’t make the overall system any cheaper.

Ultimately, most applications are not about choosing either a fuel cell or a battery. In a household setting, a fuel cell could reliably serve as a base load provider. For a camper van, I looked into the Efoys, but I’m not convinced yet due to price, space requirements, and weight (we want to keep our mid-length van under 3.5t).

Anyone familiar with battery technology will notice significant progress in environmental sustainability in battery construction – there are now models that no longer deserve accusations of "greenwashing." Technology assessments tend to lag slightly behind the current state of the art. Battery technology is extremely diverse and offers great potential for improvement in energy density and material selection.