The economical fuel cell

Fuel cells for the first time are becoming sufficiently simple, reliable, and low cost for consideration in a wide variety of practical applications. It takes careful consideration to determine where it is economically feasible to employ fuel cells. Both the initial cost of the fuel cell power source and its use cost in dollars per kilowatt hour must be evaluated. There are many applications where a high price per kilowatt hour is now paid for usable electrical power. For example, the conventional LeClanche cell costs about $30.00 per kilowatt hour in the packages of carbon-zinc cells commonly used to power radios, hand lanterns, and other lightweight portable equipment.