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Fuel Cell Installed At Connecticut Science Center In Hartford

RICK HARTFORD

October 02, 2009

Rigging & Trucking Co., Glastonbury, holds a line attached to a fuel cell that was installed Thursday afternoon at the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford. The 200-kilowatt fuel cell, built by UTC Power, a United Technologies Corp. business based in South Windsor, will generate 100 percent of the electricity the science center uses.

Fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, heat and water. By generating power on site, the science center will reduce the burden on the New England power grid, UTC Power officials said. Also, surplus power from the fuel cell will be fed into the grid at night when the center's power demand is lower.

The fuel cell also will have an educational component. It will be covered by a permanent graphic wrap, like the tarp covering the cell above, showing how it works. "We're trying to raise public awareness so people can understand what fuel cells are," said Peg Hashem, a spokeswoman for UTC Power.

UTC fuel cells power buildings, cars and buses. Also, UTC fuel cells have provided power and drinking water on U.S. manned space flights since 1966, company officials said.