Southborough Firm Looks To Power Up RVs
The way Scott Pearson, CEO of Protonex Technology Corp. in Southborough, sees it, owners of RVs, boats and other outdoor recreational equipment have limited options for power while they're out and about.
One option is to use a gas-guzzling generator, but that's noisy and heavy. Another option would be to let the RV's engine recharge a traditional battery. But that's an inefficient use of gas.
So Pearson is hoping his company's newest product, set to launch later this year, will offer a more attractive alternative: a portable, clean-energy fuel cell.
Energized Market
Unlike a battery that just stores energy, a fuel cell actually creates energy through a chemical reaction.
"Generally speaking, we can typically offer a lighter, quieter, cleaner and much more efficient energy device," Pearson said. "We think people would be interested in that."
The federal government sure is.
Protonex has received almost $50 million in government defense contracts since the company was founded in 2000. That includes the most recent $1.85 million contract to develop a next-generation fuel cell technology that can be used in field operations.
If testing goes as Pearson hopes, the government could come back with another $6.4 million order for about 100 new fuel cells.
Pearson said all the work at the company during the past few years has been leading up to this year.
Revenues at the company were about $7.1 million in 2009. That's a decrease of about 10 percent compared to 2008, according to preliminary figures that were released last month. All of the company's revenues were associated with government contracts in 2009. Pearson said it's normal for government contracts to slow down when a new president comes in to office. But contracts seem to be back on track now, plus the company will be moving into the commercial market, making him optimistic for the future.
The company is still much bigger than it was when it started in 2000 with just more than $1 million in revenue and 10 employees. It now has about 95 workers.
Protonex also has partnerships with a handful of other companies including Raytheon and Cummins Power Generation, which already specializes in commercial uses for fuel cells.
Protonex isn't the only company making fuel cells, but Pearson said his company has found the "sweet spot" of the marketplace.
Protonex products are focused on medium-sized fuel cells. Other companies make larger cells for powering entire buildings, or smaller cells for computers.
But Pearson said the 100- to 1,000-watt portable lightweight product allows for versatility while not compromising performance.
Pearson said the versatility of the system makes it attractive to the government, and he's hoping to consumers.
The U.S. government has used the systems in the past to power unmanned flight vehicles, or drones. The vehicles usually aren't big enough to carry artillery but instead record audio, video and still photographs over an area while not risking the lives of soldiers.
The technology last year set a record for having the longest flight for an unmanned vehicle of 23 hours.
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