A basic fuel cell hardware unit consists of separator plates, current collector plates, membrane electrode assembly (MEA), gaskets, and possibly heaters. All the fuel cell requires to generate electricity is hydrogen and oxygen gas, or air.

Flow fields machined in to the graphite separator plates allow for flow of reactants and provide excellent electrical contact. Special, low porosity, high purity graphite is used to guarantee a gas tight seal. Current is collected by connection to gold-plated copper contact plates. Separate voltage connectors are provided directly in each cell block for maximum accuracy in iR measurements. Each unit includes resistive heaters and thermocouple wells for accurate temperature control.

A reference electrode is provided in some of the hardware (identified with “ref” or “R”). It consists of a high purity platinum wire inserted in to the anode flow field so that it is in direct contact with the input hydrogen gas stream. Individual electrode potentials can be directly measured relative to this reference electrode to allow researchers to identify individual electrode characteristics using a high impedance potentiometer.