RockeTruck, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of advanced power generation systems and components, today announced it has received two new funding commitments, totaling $1.53 million, to support the development of new power converter technologies and components.

The larger of these two commitments is a $1.15 million grant received from the U.S. Department of Energy under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. This Phase II SBIR grant continues work that RockeTruck initiated in mid-2023 to develop a “Fuel Cell Integrated Power Electronics Module” (FCIPEM), which will convert direct current (DC) power from hydrogen fuel cells into alternating current (AC) power that can be used to power buildings and a variety of AC-powered electrical devices. The FCIPEM converter will use advanced technology gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors to improve conversion efficiency and reduce the size and weight of the converter.

The initial application targeted for FCIPEM will be to convert power from the fuel cell used on RockeTruck’s new “Mobile Fuel Cell Generator” (MFCG), a mobile platform that produces clean electricity using a hydrogen fuel cell. However, the basic design of FCIPEM will enable RockeTruck to develop and market variants of this highly sophisticated converter for a much broader variety of applications, including the conversion of DC power from solar and battery systems into AC power. Its bidirectional design will also enable FCIPEM to convert AC power from the grid into DC power to charge batteries.

RockeTruck also received a $380,000 contract from the Southern California Gas Company, which supports both the FCIPEM converter and its mobile generator product development. This funding will be used to replace an older technology power converter on one of RockeTruck’s “MFCG” systems to the new FCIPEM converter and to execute a community outreach and commercial marketing campaign to promote the benefits of these new products.

“These new funding commitments reinforce RockeTruck’s leadership position in clean power generation and advanced power conversion,” said Mike Simon, RockeTruck’s principal founder and CEO. The first prototype MFCG system has been built and has been undergoing testing since mid-2024, and a second MFCG prototype, using the new FCIPEM converter, is expected to be completed and undergoing testing by mid-2025.

For more information, please visit RockeTruck’s website, www.rocketruck.com, or send an email inquiry to info@rocketruck.com.