They operate at very high temperatures, typically between 500 and 1,000 °C. At these temperatures, SOFCs do not require expensive platinum catalyst material, as is currently necessary for lower-temperature fuel cells such as PEMFCs, and are not vulnerable to carbon monoxide catalyst poisoning. However, vulnerability to sulfur poisoning has been widely observed and the sulfur must be removed before entering the cell through the use of adsorbent beds or other means.
Solid oxide fuel cells have a wide variety of applications from use as auxiliary power units in vehicles to stationary power generation with outputs from 100 W to 2 MW. In 2009, Australian company, Ceramic Fuel Cells successfully achieved an efficiency of a SOFC device up to the previously theoretical mark of 60%.[2][3] The higher operating temperature make SOFCs suitable candidates for application with heat engine energy recovery devices or combined heat and power, which further increases overall fuel efficiency.