SERC Stack-in-a-Box®.
Merit Academy students and SERC engineers run the first Stack-in-a-Box®.
A SERC engineer demonstrates the Stack-in-a-Box® to Lollapalooza concertgoers.
The SERC Stack-in-a-Box® Portable Power Supply is a completely portable fuel cell generator custom designed and manufactured by SERC. It is designed to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about renewable energy, hydrogen, and fuel cells. School-age students, as well as industry specialists, have quickly become comfortable operating the system, which has proven to be an effective educational tool. The system provides students with hands-on experience with fuel cell technology, making the learning process fun and interactive.
In the system hydrogen, stored in either a standard lecture bottle (a small pressurized gas storage cylinder) or metal hydride tank, is fed to a proton exchange membrane fuel cell to produce DC electricity.
Our patented low air pressure design ensures high fuel cell system efficiency. The 16-cell PEM fuel cell power system has a peak power of 125 W. A small inverter converts the fuel cell's 12VDC electricity to 110VAC electricity for use with standard appliances-- favorites for demonstrations include a blender for making smoothies and incandescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs. The Stack-in-a-Box® was designed with simplicity in mind. The system is easy to use, and students of all ages have used it over and over with a perfect safety and operating record.
To date, SERC has built five Stack-in-a-Box® units, four for outside clients and one for our own use. Our Stack-in-a-Box® is the centerpiece of our educational outreach efforts. At career and renewable energy fairs, people of all ages crowd around to see the system and learn about fuel cells. The Stack-in-a-Box® can also power a laptop computer, making it an integral part of our multimedia presentations. During the summer of 2003, a SERC engineer demonstrated the Stack-in-a-Box® to hundreds of thousands of people through the Lollapalooza music tour, giving concertgoers across the country their first chance to see a hydrogen fuel cell up close.
