Honda’s Experimental Home Energy Station III

Honda R&D Americas Inc. of Torrance, California, and Plug Power Inc. of Latham, New York, have introduced the Home Energy Station III, which uses natural gas as its base energy source. Designed to work in a home-based refueling environment, it can supply a sufficient amount of hydrogen to power a fuel cell vehicle, such as the Honda FCX (shown above), for daily operation while providing electricity for an average-sized household.

The Home Energy Station III is 30% smaller than its predecessor, the Home Energy Station II, with an approximate 25% increase in electrical power output. Overall performance increases with more energy-efficient operation, increased hydrogen storage and production capacities, and a faster start-up time of about one minute.

Additionally, hydrogen storage and production capacity are both improved by 50% with the use of a new, high-performance, natural gas reformer. The Home Energy Station III is also able to function as a backup power generation system during power outages by using the hydrogen in the storage tank to power the internal fuel cell, providing as much as 5kW of electrical power to the home in normal and emergency conditions.

The Home Energy Station III will be tested in conjunction with the Honda FCX at Honda R&D Americas’ Torrance headquarters.