Fuel Cells Support California District's Green Efforts

IUSD will install 12 ClearEdge5 units, which could save the district up to $1.14 million in operating costs over 20 years.

Irvine Unified School District in Southern California is ramping up its green efforts by installing fuel cells on two of its high school campuses. The district has already launched a solar power initiative that will place photovoltaic arrays on several sites; the fuel cells will be used to heat facilities and to generate extra power.
The fuel cell installations will take place on two campuses--Woodbridge High School and University High School. The installations will heat and power the schools' pools and provide supplementary power. The ClearEdge5 micro combined heat and power (micro-CHP) fuel cells, manufactured and installed by ClearEdge Power, are designed to convert natural gas into heat and electricity using a non-combustive chemical process that results in only negligible emissions. IUSD will install six of the refrigerator-sized, 5 kilowatt units at each of the two schools. The installations are expected to save the district $18,000 to $28,000 per school per year and will, according to information released by ClearEdge, cut CO₂ emissions by 37 percent at those two campuses.
As part of the deal, ClearEdge will maintain the systems at Woodbridge and University for five years. ClearEdge also provides fuel cell system performance monitoring and offers an iPhone app and computer software that allow users to track power generation, heat generation, and carbon offset in real time.