Bloom Box 60 Minutes Segment

Bloom Energy, a California startup with big financial backing, is about to launch (tomorrow) their Bloom Box, a fuel cell device that they hope to see in the home of every American in the next 5 to 10 years. Holding up two tiny boxes, K.R. Sridhar of Bloom Energy told Lesley Stahl in a recent 60 Minutes interview that they were enough to power a single American home (incidentally, the same number of boxes could power 4 Asian homes, and UK homes require just one).

Many, however, are skeptical that these Bloom Boxes will be able to deliver on their power-saving promises. Michael Kanellos, editors of Greentech Media, has doubts. His concerns are twofold. First, big firms such as GE already have patents for fuel cells but have not yet begun to sell them, primarily because they cost too much to be competitive. Second, well-funded projects like this one with a protracted product development stage—Bloom Energy has been working on its fuel cells for about 10 years and has already received more than $400 million in funding—tend to fall flat when they finally “go live.”

But Bloom Energy already has several clients that have been using the Bloom Box for 9+ months with a lot of success. The installation on the eBay lawn has been running for about that much time and apparently has already saved the company more than $100,000 in electricity costs, providing about 15% of the building’s energy. Their system produces about five times more energy than their acres of solar panels, too!

What remains to be seen is whether the Bloom Box will be affordable for the average consumer looking to save energy at home. Sridhar promises that it will be affordable for Americans, and even for communities in developing countries. We’ll find out tomorrow!