California-Based Maker of Hydrogen Fuel
Cells Expands Wisconsin Operations
The Wisconsin State Journal May 1--
A California company developing hydrogen fuel cells for lawn mowers
and portable generators is moving from its garage-size building in
Middleton Industrial Park to larger quarters there and hopes to
quadruple its work force by year's end.
"Our target there is 20 employees by year's end," said David
Haberman, board chairman of DCH Technology of Valencia, Calif.
Haberman declined to identify the new 3,300-square-foot site in the
industrial park on Greenview Drive "for security reasons."
He said the company will be developing non-polluting fuel cells there,
making the cells and integrating them into a series of small power
systems. Fuel cells convert hydrogen gas into electricity efficiently
without polluting emissions or noise, he said.
On Monday, DCH will demonstrate a hydrogen fuel cell on a
wheelchair during a national techical peer review conference, Haberman
said.
The company, which has about 30 employees in all, will move a couple
of key people from California to Middleton and will hire additional
technical professionals associated with energy fields in the Madison
area.
Haberman said the close proximity of UW-Madison to the Middleton
operation was a key factor in locating here. "Also, our key scientist is
from UW-Madison and all of our people in Middleton have at least
one UW-Madison degree," said Haberman, a Milwaukee native.
Haberman said the company unveiled its first prototype fuel cell at the
National Hydrogen Association annual meeting April 7 to 9 in Virginia
and was overwhelmed with the responses. The responses prompted
the company to develop the Middleton production facility, he said.
Haberman said the company is also working to develop cooperative
agreements with utilities to provide fuel. In addition, it has a
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the U.S.
Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory to continue
the evolution and improvement of its fuel cell.
DCH also specializes in patented and proprietary gas sensor and safety
products developed at U.S. National Laboratories.
Meanwhile, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., is among signers of a letter
urging the House Appropriations Committee to add $7 million to the
Department of Energy's $28 million budget request for hydrogen
research. Used to power the Space Shuttle, hydrogen can eventually be
used to meet most power needs cleanly and economically, Baldwin
said.
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