Oorja Takes On Bloom Energy’s “Bloom Box”

As the fuel cell wars begin to heat up again with the first major salvo being fired by Sunnyvale, CA’s Bloom Energy, a second player is turning up the heat. Oorja Protonics of Fremont, CA has begun production of a smaller fuel cell. Whereas the Bloom Box is larger and more commercial in nature – approximately 100 Kilowatts – the Oorja fuel cell competes more directly with products from Panasonic and ClearEdge Energy at about 5 KW.

Oorja is taking aim directly at the consumer market. It’s 5 KW fuel cell provides enough electricty to power a home or small business. Unlike many of its competitors, Oorja’s offering in the fuel cell battle is powered by methanol rather than methane, but the Oorja fuel cell provides 50 times more power than other methanol competitors like Toshiba.

It is suspected that this is only the start for Oorja. While this product is directly aimed at competitors such as Panasonic and ClearEdge, it is suspected that Oorja’s ultimate goal is to take on Bloom with a product that delivers to industries that require both heat and electricity – the Bloom Box generates very little heat – such as hospitals and food production facilities.

While no price has been released, the estimated cost of the Oorja fuel cell is approximately $22,500 before incentives.