A Total Cost of Ownership Model for Low Temperature PEM Fuel Cells in Combined Heat

and Power and Backup Power Applications

Max Wei. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. One Cyclotron Road, MS 90R-4000,
Berkeley, California, 94706 (E-mail: mwei@lbl.gov)

Thomas McKone. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. One Cyclotron Road, MS 90R-
4000, Berkeley, California, 94706 (Email: temckone@lbl.gov)

Timothy Lipman. University of California, Berkeley, Transportation Sustainability Research
Center, Berkeley, California (E-mail: telipman@berkeley.edu)

Ahmad Mayyas. University of California, Berkeley, Transportation Sustainability Research
Center, Berkeley, California (E-mail: amayyas@berkeley.edu)

David Gosselin. University of California, Berkeley, Laboratory for Manufacturing and
Sustainability, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Berkeley, California (Email:
dmgosselin@berkeley.edu)

Shuk Han Chan. University of California, Berkeley, Laboratory for Manufacturing and
Sustainability, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Berkeley, California (Email:
shukhan@berkeley.edu)

Hanna Breunig. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. One Cyclotron Road, MS 90R-4000,
Berkeley, California, 94706 (Email: hannamsmith@lbl.gov)

Joshua Chien. University of California, Berkeley, Laboratory for Manufacturing and
Sustainability, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Berkeley, California (Email:
jmchien@berkeley.edu)

Michael Stadler. Lawrence Berkeley National Laborator.

One Cyclotron Road, MS 90R-4000,
Berkeley, California, 94706 (Email: mstadler@lbl.gov)



Abstract
Fuel cell systems for stationary applications such as combined heat and power (CHP) and
backup power (BU) offer cleaner generation than combustion systems and costs have dropped
for their manufacturing costs significantly over the last 15 years as a result of the intensive
development.
In this study, a bottom-up analysis for the total cost of ownership model is described for low
temperature proton exchange membrane (LT-PEM) systems for use in CHP and BU
applications. Bottom-up cost analyses were made based on currently installed fuel cell systems
for balance of plant (BOP) costs, and detailed evaluation of design-for-manufacturing-and-
assembly (DFMA) cost were carried out to estimate the direct manufacturing costs for key fuel
cell stack components.
This work expands the cost modeling framework of other studies to include life-cycle impact
assessment of possible ancillary financial benefits during operation and at the end-of-life,
including credits for reduced emissions of Green-House Gas emissions (GHG), reductions in
environmental and health externalities, and end-of-life recycling. Several promising
geographical locations in the U.S. are identified for installation of stationary fuel cell CHP
systems including Minneapolis and Phoenix. Life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) were carried
out for a several building types in these locations (hotels, hospitals, office buildings). Taking
into account reduced electricity demand charges, heating credits and carbon credits from global
warming gas reduction can reduce the effective cost of electricity ($/kWhe) by 5-15% in these
locations with the amount dependent on several factors such as the cost of natural gas, utility
tariff structure, amount of waste heat utilization, carbon intensity of displaced electricity, and
carbon price. Environmental and health damages due to grid-based electricity are found to be
$0.005 per kWh in the Phoenix area and $0.03 per kWh in Minneapolis. This quantification of
externality damages can contribute up to 25% cost reduction to the effective cost of electricity
on a societal level when dirty electricity is displaced by a fuel cell system.