Microgeneration - producing energy for the home, in the home - is a substantial improvement over the current centralised and detached energy model employed the world over. Domestic Microgeneration is the first in-depth reference work for this exciting and emerging field of energy generation. It provides detailed reviews of ten state-of-the-art technologies: including solar PV and thermal, micro-CHP and heat pumps; and considers them within the wider context of the home in which they are installed and the way that they are operated. Alongside the many successes, this book highlights the common pitfalls that beset the industry. It offers best-practice guidance on how they can be avoided by considering the complex linkages between technology, user, installer and government. This interdisciplinary work draws together the social, economic, political and environmental aspects of this very diverse energy 'genre' into a single must-have reference for academics and students of sustainability and energy related subjects, industry professionals, policy makers and the growing number of energy-literate householders who are looking for ways to minimise their environmental footprint and their energy bills with microgeneration.

Fuel cell performance is determined by the complex interplay of mass transport, energy transfer and electrochemical processes. The convolution of these processes leads to spatial heterogeneity in the way that fuel cells perform, particularly due to reactant consumption, water management and the design of fluid-flow plates. It is therefore unlikely that any bulk measurement made on a fuel cell will represent performance at all parts of the cell. The ability to make spatially resolved measurements in a fuel cell provides one of the most useful ways in which to monitor and optimise performance. This book reviews the range of in situ techniques being used to study fuel cells and describes the use of novel experimental techniques that the authors have used to develop an experimental functional map of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) performance. These techniques include the mapping of current density, electrochemical impedance, electrolyte conductivity, contact resistance and CO poisoning distribution within working PEFCs, as well as mapping the flow of reactant in gas channels using laser Doppler anemometry (LDA). The combination of these techniques, applied across a range of fuel cell operating conditions allows a unique picture of the internal workings of PEFCs to be obtained and has been used to validate both numerical and analytical models.