With the philosophy that there's no better way to introduce a new technology to the mainstream, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) installed a fuel cell at a McDonald's in Deer Park, Long Island, in New York state. Lasting for 12 months, this demonstration was one of a group of 17 fuel cells demonstrated at 11 different sites around Long Island from 2002 to 2003.

Forward-thinking in its views toward energy and the environment, LIPA had started—under the direction of Governor George Pataki—the Clean Energy Initiative in 1999. This initiative is one of the most ambitious programs in the United States, with a $355 million commitment to promoting clean electric generation and efficiency technologies over a 10-year period.

"When the Clean Energy Initiative was established in 1999," begins Dan Zaweski, LIPA's director of energy efficiency and distributed generation programs, "we began looking into fuel cells. We eventually commissioned a study to look at who the leaders were in the residential fuel cell market. At that point our consultants told us that Plug Power Inc. was one of the leaders, and given their proximity to our locations—their being a New York company—we began discussions with them." And these discussions were the start of an ongoing relationship that has lasted through three sets of fuel cell demonstrations.

The McDonald's installation was part of LIPA's third demonstration of fuel cells. It included the largest commercial name involved with any of LIPA's fuel cell projects to date. The first demonstration, done in 2000, involved the operation (testing) of six proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (also known as PEMs) at Hofstra University in Hempstead, Long Island. "The initial fuel cell installations on Long Island were among the first systems demonstrated outside of Plug Power's laboratory environment," Zaweski says.

LIPA's second demonstration, done in 2001, involved building what it refers to as a "fuel cell farm," a collection of 75 fuel cells it was simultaneously testing in one spot in West Babylon, Long Island. "At that time it was the largest accumulation of fuel cells operating together at one location in the world," says Zaweski.

The most recent demonstration, which included the Deer Park McDonald's, was the first one in which LIPA's fuel cells were deployed in real-world settings. These systems were all PEM fuel cells that supplemented the grid, alleviating the amount of energy needed to keep the facility they supported operating. They functioned in what's called grid parallel mode, which means the power for the building was coming from both the grid and the fuel cell, and if the grid shut down, the fuel cell would too.

The fuel cell used at the McDonald's, Plug Power's GenSys5C unit, is designed for residences and small commercial businesses. For this demonstration, it was advantageous for LIPA to use these fuel cells at businesses. "Because of the newness of the technology," explains Zaweski, "we chose to site them in more commercial settings, where the failure of the unit would not represent a catastrophic event." Another big benefit of doing a business installation was that the fuel cell was more visible to the public, allowing customers and passers-by to observe and learn about the technology. It also happened to be a bit easier to contract with a commercial entity—through a site host agreement—than it would have been, at least at that point, with an individual homeowner. "We're still sorting the impact of them on homeowners' insurance and things like that," adds Zaweski.

As with LIPA's previous fuel cell demonstrations, one of the main motivators of the most recent demo was to try out the technology and see how it was functioning in terms of how long and how well it could run. In this particular demonstration there was also, as previously mentioned, a strong desire to introduce the technology to the public. "We were hoping to find areas [to install them] where visibility would come about so we would increase the knowledge of fuel cells amongst the general public in our service territory," Zaweski says. "We also really wanted to see how they operated in real-world settings." In addition, there was curiosity as to whether the unit was going to be able to operate in a combined heat and power mode where it was producing both thermal hot water and electricity.

Enter McDonald's
Once LIPA and Plug Power were ready to launch the third demonstration, they asked their major-account reps to inquire about their clients' willingness to participate. McDonald's responded positively

Hunt Enterprises, a company that owns McDonald's franchises on Long Island, began communicating with LIPA regarding at which McDonald's location to install the fuel cell. Several stores were being considered. LIPA told Hunt Enterprises what the specifications and needs were for this type of demonstration, and after several visits to the sites in question, all parties agreed that the Deer Park store was the best location. And so it came to be.

Because the fuel cell was positioned outside of the McDonald's, its operation and installation did not effect the functioning of the business. The only real difference was that it took up one parking space. However, Frank Poerio, facilities manager at Hunt Enterprises (who oversees various McDonald's restaurants in Long Island), says he didn't hear any complaints.

Poerio was pleased to be a part of the demonstration. "We benefited because this is a reusable source of energy, which seems to be the wave of the future. And I do not like using oil," he says, adding that he would also like to see a higher level of experimentation on fuel cell technology.

Why PEMs?
There exist a variety of fuel cells including phosphoric acid fuel cells, solid oxide fuel cells, PEM fuel cells, and ceramic fuel cells. So why were PEM fuel cells chosen for this demonstration? "It goes back to 1999 when we first moved into it and had our consultant look into who would be the leader in the residential market," begins Zaweski. "Based off of that, the results suggested that the PEM fuel cell technology looked to be the leader of the pack in the residential market. At that point in time, there was really not a big fuel cell push, or a public push, for fuel cells regarding the mobile market. But that was clearly the leading technology."

Fast forward to 2003. From LIPA's perspective, PEM fuel cells still seemed the best choice for its purposes. "Auto makers are really concentrating on PEM technology," says Zaweski, "and that should bring further breakthroughs in the prices. And it will probably also help to establish a much broader service and maintenance infrastructure than you might find with some of the other types of fuel cells."

For LIPA, when choosing a PEM manufacturer, Plug Power and Ballard Power Systems Inc. were two of their top choices. Ballard, however, has a much higher concentration in the automobile market than it does in the residential market, and it is a Canadian firm. "For the work we were doing, where we needed a very close interaction with the manufacturer, we needed someone within close range and who was cognizant of our market. Plug Power seemed to be the better choice," Zaweski says.

The Mechanics
Although they use fossil fuel, fuel cells are environmentally advantageous because they put out very low emissions. Through an electromechanical process—as opposed to by combusting fuel—they convert fuel to energy, sparing us large quantities of noxious fumes. Once this chemical energy is generated, it is directly converted into electricity and heat. The process of energy conversion in a fuel cell occurs in three stages, as follows: (1) A reformer takes the gas and reforms it, and what comes out is straight hydrogen. (2) The hydrogen goes into the fuel cell stack where a chemical process occurs that generates electricity. (3) This electricity then goes into a converter that converts DC power to AC power to make it more adaptable for plugging into the wall.

The PEM fuel cells in this demonstration were fueled by natural gas. Plug Power's GenSys5C fuel cell is 84.5 by 32 by 68.25 inches. It makes very little noise. In fact, all that can really be heard—and only part of the time at that—is a fan. At the time LIPA purchased it, the fuel cell cost approximately $75,000, including installation.

The McDonald's fuel cell was located in the first parking space adjacent to the building. Anyone who drove into the restaurant would eventually drive past it. That particular parking space was chosen because it was the least costly way of installing it. "We didn't have to set it way up in the back of the building or anywhere else," says Zaweski. "There were a water supply, drainage, and electric and natural gas hookups that were already in close proximity, so it was an ideal location.

"This really proved to be a great site," he adds, "because you had close proximity to the building. It didn't turn into one of those projects where you had to repave a parking lot or trench and do special grading. We had pretty much everything we needed close at hand. And the utility setup inside the building was such that going through one wall we could reach everything we needed. We had a very receptive host, McDonald's and Frank Poerio at Hunt Enterprises, and they were really good to work with."

To attract attention to it, the fuel cell had some signage on it explaining that it was an LIPA and Plug Power fuel cell demonstration. So how much interest from the public did it attract? Angelo Fella, a previous manager of the Deer Park McDonald's who was working onsite during the installation and operation of the fuel cell, estimates that customers would inquire about the fuel cell approximately five out of seven days a week.

Moving On
Before the actual installation could begin, LIPA negotiated a host site agreement with McDonald's that laid out the cost and terms of agreement between the parties involved. "The business terms with the McDonald's were basically that we'd monitor the gas consumption of the unit and both the hot-water and electrical production. We guaranteed them that at the end of the demonstration it would cost them no more to do it than [it would have] had they not done it," says Zaweski.

After all the necessary contracts were in place, the installation design and construction phases began. First, the Plug Power engineer had to finalize the design of the site, which consisted of both electrical and plumbing/mechanical components. Once the design was completed, a competitive request for proposals was issued to facilitate the selection of the electrical and mechanical contractors who would be involved. After the contractors were chosen, permitting still needed to be obtained from the local government, after which time the actual physical site construction effort could begin.

"The physical installation itself probably doesn't take—assuming you have your crews ready—more than a couple of days," Zaweski says. "It's an electrical connection, a plumbing connection, a septic connection, and a natural gas connection." But the entire installation—when factoring in bids and scheduling of appointments for all parties involved—took about three weeks in total.

"We worked very closely with McDonald's from a facility standpoint," says Zaweski. "And since the fuel cell was near the building and took up one of the parking spaces, the space it would take was of concern to them. They have a very standard format for what their buildings should look like and what can be in any one area. So we worked closely with them to ensure that the installation met with their requirements."

Unlike some installations that require very involved physical prepping of the site prior to installation, this fuel cell—as noted previously—didn't require too much prep work. It was put into a parking spot that was already level. "Plug Power had to come in and wire it into McDonald's' breaker panel," says Zaweski. "There were probably a couple of wall penetrations, but overall I was not aware of anything major that had to be done. They didn't have to bring in heavy equipment or anything else like that."

Another reason the installation went so smoothly was because the size of PEM fuel cells has reduced substantially compared to what it used to be. "This one probably came in on a truck with a lift gate, maybe with a small forklift. But compared to the initial demonstrations where the units were much, much bigger and we had to have cranes come in, this is not all that different from actually installing or at least placing a central air-conditioning unit," says Zaweski.

More or Less an Open Road
When asked if there were any specific challenges regarding the fuel cell installation and its operations, Zaweski says he doesn't recall any of real significance. "It ran pretty well, as we expected it to. We had expected some bumps in the road, and there were some. There were changes in some of the components during the course of the demonstrations, but overall I can't point to any one big problem." The biggest lesson learned may have been the importance of an appropriate fuel cell location.

"As a group, we learned from that demonstration that at least during these time periods, where the technology is not really commercial yet, it's important to have the units grouped closer together rather than spread out all over the Island," says Zaweski. He is referring to one fuel cell they had in East Hampton, which is approximately 60 to 70 miles from the center of Long Island, where the majority of the other fuel cells were. This unfortunate positioning had cost LIPA a lot of time in travel when something needed to be attended to at the site.

All in all, when comparing the McDonald's fuel cell's performance with what was expected of it, it earned an A. LIPA and Plug Power were expecting that it, along with the others in the demonstration, would operate in conjunction with the grid without any real issues, and that it would produce some component of hot water and electricity, like it did. "I think our expectations were really more the expectations that the unit would operate as designed," says Zaweski. "We certainly expected it to be reliable, probably somewhere up in the 70%-plus time frame." Which is just what it did.

So what were the numbers? Overall, the fuel cell had run for roughly 7,854 hours. In that time it had generated a total of 12.088 kilowatt-hours, and the total natural gas consumption was approximately 68,123 kilowatt-hours of gas. It produced approximately 1.5% of the electricity for the McDonald's, or 11,212 kilowatt-hours, and it produced approximately 1% of the thermal energy, or 4,070,000 Btus.

Lessons Learned
LIPA and Plug Power felt it was important to have an international brand like McDonald's associated with this project. "Although the McDonald's fuel cell was one of 11 demo sites," says Zaweski, "what's more common than McDonald's and fast food? We took a technology that not a lot of people were familiar with and had it located right there. It was a chance to mainstream high technology."

"While the McDonald's installation is just one of over 150 systems installed by LIPA," starts Dave Hamilton, market engagement manager at Plug Power, "it did have the unique advantage of having a high-profile host. As a result, it was able to garner more attention than some of the other installations on Long Island, which helped raise awareness of fuel cell technology and applications."

As with any new technology, what seems to be a recurring theme in fuel cell installations is the lack of knowledge about the technology and what its installation requires among the regulatory permitting community. "Since we've been doing our demonstrations in phases, we've been continuing to work on this," says Zaweski. "But that really is still quite a hurdle. There are some misunderstandings about hydrogen, probably some unfounded fears about it, and there's not a great understanding of the technology. There's still a lot of work to be done there. If you were to site one of these in an area where no one had heard of a fuel cell and you did not have a very progressive building inspector, you'd probably have some work cut out for you."

For those interested in installing a fuel cell, Zaweski suggests finding people who understand the technology, if possible. Otherwise they will have to be educated in the installation process. In either case it does take longer to install than it would familiar technologies. "We were pretty fortunate in this case because we had done some upfront work on the Island and neighboring townships previously. But getting the first one in was a lot harder."

AMY SORKIN speciaizes in marketing communications.

DE - January/February 2005