Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) development work at Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ) is extensive, ranging from fundamental materials' design through to near‐commercial prototype CHP systems. Considerable advances have been demonstrated in the past years concerning the improvement of device performance by identifying performance degradation mechanisms and reducing or eliminating those problems, and in designing, developing and manufacturing core SOFC components. At the time of this writing, the first, fully integrated SOFC combined heat and power generation prototype system is awaiting completion. FZJ is involved in significant national and international programs and coordinates major international projects.

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The parallel development of kW-range SOFC stacks and their systems at the Forschungszentrum Jülich requires distinguished modeling capabilities by validated SOFC models targeting the three-dimensional stack structure itself as well as the entire system. For the full three-dimensional (3D) geometric resolution of a stack, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models are used whereas a one-dimensional (1D) behavior model based on ordinary differential equations (ODE) covers the system modeling requirements. The CFD model is using advanced data structures to reduce the computing time significantly. However, Computing times in the range of seconds or below required by system modeling are featured only by the 1D model. Both SOFC models are based on the same physical equations for electrochemical conversion and internal methane reforming. The application of these models is shown in practice, focusing on choosing the right model for an application, and how both models were validated against each other and against experiments.