5. Conclusion

As we have seen, fuel cells appear to be excellent technological solutions for cogeneration applications. To date, in the case of domestic micro-cogeneration, the bulk of new system sales involve fuel cell technologies. It is therefore fair to say that this technology has now reached technico-economic maturity, thanks in particular to public incentives in certain countries (Japan, Korea) which have enabled these technologies to break through to the general public, despite a higher investment cost than competing products.

However, the market is still very modest, with around 60,000 fuel cell micro CHP units installed worldwide (mainly in Asia) at the end of 2012. While PEMFC technology currently dominates the market, the more efficient SOFC technology is set to gain increasing market share if technological innovation continues.

With regard...