MODELING THE MANUFACTURING COST OF SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELLS

During the past years solid oxide fuel cells have been developed with improved power densities at reduced operating temperatures. These cells consist of additional layers beyond the traditional two electrodes and the electrolyte layer. Some of these layers are only several microns thin posing a manufacturing challenge for traditional high volume manufacturing processes like tape casting or screen printing. Our previously developed process based cost model has been updated to include the additional layers, to account for yield improvements for thinner layers, and to anticipate the effect of equipment and process development. These latter improvements are assumed to improve automation and process control. Our results indicate that for improved processes with high yields these cells can readily meet manufacturing cost targets.