Automated mass-manufacturing and quality assurance of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell stacks

qSOFC project combines leading European companies and research centres in stack manufacturing value-chain with two companies specialized in production automation and quality assurance to optimize the current stack manufacturing processes for mass production. Currently the state-of-the-art SOFC system capital expenditure (capex) is 7000…8000 €/kW of which stack is the single most expensive component. This proposal focuses on SOFC stack cost reduction and quality improvement by replacing manual labour in all key parts of the stack manufacturing process with automated manufacturing and quality control. This will lead to stack cost of 1000 €/kW and create a further cost reduction potential down to 500 €/kW at mass production (2000 MW/year). 

The specific high-level objectives of the project are:

• Reduction of stack cost down to 1000 €/kW at 10 MW/year production volume 
• Demonstration of stack cost-reduction potential to 500 €/kW at mass-production (2000 MW/year)
• Reduction of cell manufacturing cost down to 400 €/kW at 10 MW/year production volume 
• Demonstration of cell cost-reduction potential to 200 €/kW at mass-production (2000 MW/year) 
• Increase production yield in all parts of stack manufacturing value chain to above 95% by automation and quality assurance 
• Development and validation of cell- and interconnect quality assurance methods which are independent of stack manufacturer or stack design 
• Validation of stack component manufacturing processes compliance with REACH Regulations 
• Consolidation of the partners’ extensive background and basic research results into mass manufacturable Products 
• Stengthen the competitiveness of European fuel cell industry 

The main approach to achieve the above mentioned objectives is a close collaboration between leading European companies and research centres to create an efficient value chain. This project combines the leading European companies in SOFC stack production value-chain with two highly experienced companies specialized in production automation and quality assurance.