It’s quite an unusual situation for someone who is working on a groundbreaking technology to be openly discussing his plans with members of the public on a blog. We are used to grand announcements being made by companies who have spent years in secret working on their latest technology (think Steve Jobs’ dramatic revelations of the latest Apple device).
Andrea Rossi does have his secrets — he won’t talk about what happens inside his E-Cat device — but he is remarkably open about his business plans and the progress he is making on the E-Cat. We are getting almost daily reports on the number of E-Cats in operation. Last week Rossi said 97 E-Cats were running; today he said he had 170 of the 300 modules for the 1 MW plant destined for Greece in operation.
Rossi’s comments on his web site show an evolution in his thinking regarding how he envisions the E-Cat’s being used. At the beginning of this year he was working with 10 kW E-Cats (the kind he demonstrated at the January 14th press conference). In March Rossi said, “about the domestic plants the authorization issue is very important, we cannot dodge it: there are laws, and the laws must be respected. Authorizations for industrial plants will be much easier than for households, for obvious reasons.”
It seems now his thinking has changed on that matter. On May 3, Rossi was asked, “Do you think that security will be able to have a 6-kw e-cat at home in the basement connected to the heating system?” Rossi’s answer was, “Yes”.
Today when Rossi was asked when the E-Cat could be bought by private individuals, Rossi answered, “within the year.” It is not entirely clear whether he meant within this year (2011) or within a year from the commercial technology launch in November, but either way it would be a remarkable thing to see E-Cats in people’s homes providing heat, air conditioning and electricity in such a short time frame.
If this indeed turns out to be feasible, the demand for Rossi’s technology is going to be huge. What family would not want to have a power station in their home providing them with all the domestic energy they need. Rossi surely understands the magnitude of the task before him, and it will be very interesting to see how he plans to meet the demands that surely would surely come after a working E-Cat is unveiled.
