Originally used in the aviation industry, the term “auxiliary power unit” is used to describe a production unit that primarily provides power for the vehicle’s hoteling loads—i.e., any electrical power that is required by the vehicle for purposes other than the primary propulsion system, including such draws as heating and lighting. While the size of the market in terms of absolute numbers will not be large, reaching just over 5,000 units by 2020, the sector will grow strongly over the next several years, according to the forecast.

The four main market sectors for fuel cell APUs are marine, trucking, aviation, and recreational vehicles (RVs). All have the potential to use fuel cell technology initially in an APU function for vehicle hoteling loads but, in the future, fuel cell technology could also be used to assist the primary propulsion unit.

Click to enlarge.

The reason for the slow but steady growth in this market is that, unlike the other applications for which fuel cell technology is being developed, there are a number of non-trivial technological and regulatory barriers that need to be addressed for the marine and aviation sectors especially, and for trucking to a lesser degree. For marine and aviation, although the drivers for the adoption of new practices or technologies are high, without further development, fuel cell technology cannot be rolled out in these sectors.

—research director Kerry-Ann Adamson

The Pike report asserts that the marine and aviation markets represent the areas where fuel cells, with their lower emissions and noise signatures, could have the largest impact. But both of these markets will require more substantial investment in R&D and technology development between now and 2020, before they are ready for wide-scale commercialization. Pike Research anticipates that the RV sector, already the largest market for fuel cell APUs, will continue its steady growth during the coming decade—although profit margins per unit remain low and even the market leader, SFC Energy, is starting to increase its focus on non-RV markets.

Pike Research’s report, “Fuel Cells for Auxiliary Power Unit Applications”, analyzes the market potential for fuel cells to be utilized as APUs in marine, trucking, aviation, and RV markets. The study includes a comprehensive assessment of market drivers and barriers, technology issues, and key industry players in each of the four sectors. Forecasts are provided for each sector through 2020, including unit shipments, revenue, and total capacity in megawatts.