Spokane Valley manufacturer ReliOn Inc., which makes fuel cell-powered backup power systems, has launched a new product, the E-200 fuel cell system.
The system, ReliOn Chief Operating Officer Joe Blanchard says, is offering customers more power options in one piece of equipment.
“You can adjust the voltage output and select between 12, 24, 36, or 48 volts,” Blanchard says. Usually, he says, if a company wanted a power source for a certain voltage, it had to buy a product specific to that voltage. The E-200 offers users the ability to select voltage as needed for a specific task.
The types of businesses that could use the E-200 system, Blanchard says, include telecommunications companies, railroads, and cable television businesses. Telecommunications often needs a backup power source in the 24- to 48-volt range, he says.
Railroads, Blanchard says, use some of the 12-volt fuel cells as the backup power sources for crossing lights and bars, as well as for sensors along the rails themselves that track a train’s movements and read if a train’s wheels are overheating.
The 36-volt range, he says, tends to be focused on backup power for cable television systems.
All these different companies and applications can be handled with the E-200, Blanchard says.
The E-200 is a 200-watt proton membrane exchange fuel cell. It stands about 35 inches tall by 19 inches wide and 18 inches deep, he says. It also features a USB port for system upgrades, and an Ethernet port that will enable customers to manage the system remotely.
ReliOn is located at 15913 E. Euclid, where it occupies about 22,000  square feet of space in one building, and about 9,000 in an adjacent building. The company employs approximately 53 people, 47 full time and six temporary. It has increased staff in 2013 by 15 percent, from a total of 46 combined staff at the beginning of the year, says spokeswoman Sandra Saathoff, who adds that the company has no immediate plans to hire more employees next year.
Saathoff says that the company was slightly down in sales this year versus 2012. She declined to give the company’s exact revenue numbers for 2012 and 2013.  However, the company started projects this year that it won’t see returns on until 2014, she says.
Blanchard says that the company, which launched in 1995, is developing new projects to introduce in 2014, including some systems that could be portable and could generate higher power levels than its current fuel cell systems.
A fuel cell, he says, is an electrochemical generator that uses hydrogen to produce electricity.
The fuel cell converts hydrogen and oxygen into water, generating electricity in the process.
The hydrogen proton travels through a membrane in the fuel cell, while the electron enters an electrical circuit, creating an electrical current. The two are recombined on the other side of the membrane with oxygen creating water.
“It’s similar to a battery, but it uses hydrogen as its fuel, so it can run continuously,” Blanchard says. “It has the advantages of a battery and the advantages of a generator.”
Earlier this year, Blanchard says, the company received a strategic investment from the Cummins Engine Corp., of Indiana.
ReliOn also has added outlets in Europe and Asia this year, he says, and continued its research into hydrogen technology.
 “We spent a lot of time working on hydrogen solutions,” Blanchard says.
He adds, “A large focus of U.S. customers is taking care of things like the results of Hurricane Sandy, events that cause widespread outages. Our products have to work in environments like that.”
Blanchard says ReliOn has seen growth in its railroad markets. This is due partially to the low level of competition for technology in the rail industry, he claims.
“It’s an interesting market because there’s not a lot of competition,” Blanchard says. “When one finds good technology, they’re not really concerned about hanging onto it because the markets are geographically segregated.”
Blanchard also says that within telecommunications, which is ReliOn’s key segment, the company has continued to see a good level of business, even as those companies shift their focus to expanding their coverage areas.
“The LTE (Long Term Evolution) market is huge now and everyone’s scrambling to get their upgrades done,” he says.
Looking toward the future, Blanchard says ReliOn wants to continue to grow its business in the railroad market. It is also expecting to begin seeing results from its  expansion activity this year in Europe and Asia.
“We’re starting to open new geographic markets,” Blanchard says. “With approximately 50 employees, it’s hard to go worldwide, so we do it through partnerships.”