Sabkush Headlines: Bloom box challenges: Reliability, cost

Sabkush Headlines: Bloom box challenges: Reliability, cost
Bloom box challenges: Reliability, cost

The start-up now faces the gritty task of delivering products that are reliable and cheap. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Bloom Energy held a press event Wednesday morning detailing the Bloom box fuel cell, which is designed to be stacked into small blocks and housed in a unit about the size of a refrigerator. Luminaries in attendance included California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, legendary venture capitalist John Doerr, Google co-founder Larry Page, and top executives from heavyweight companies such as eBay, Wal-Mart, and FedEx. The combination within the Bloom box of oxygen and fuel creates a chemical reaction, producing electricity. The box, which promises to deliver generous amounts of power in a small space and to change peoples dependency on traditional power grids--all for less than $3,000 for a home unit--is already in use at places such as Google, eBay, and Wal-Mart. Probably the single most fundamental promise made by Bloom Energy CEO K.R. Sridhar at Wednesdays event was that by starting with a 25-watt fuel cell building block, products can be scaled up from 1kW "home" solutions to systems delivering hundreds of kilowatts for businesses or communities.