The Fuel Cell Power Pack That Fits in Your Hand

[Guest]

It can recharge your gadgets, but are you be willing to buy replenishment packs regularly?

The Fuel Cell Power Pack That Fits in Your Hand : Read more

 

[thrust2night]

Now lets get some of this on phones and laptops and we're talking major shifts in consumer lifestyles.

http/www.ecogeek.org/component/content/article/1882

http/www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/10/panasonic-promi/

 

[gglawits]

Oh, it's probably safe alright - but will one be ALLOWED to take it on board of an airplane? In the carry-on luggage? In checked luggage? Both? Neither?

 

[maigo]

Or you can spend $20 on the car charger

 

[jellico]

[citation][nom]thrust2night[/nom]Now lets get some of this on phones and laptops and we're talking major shifts in consumer lifestyles.[/citation]

To what end? It still takes traditional fossil-fuel sources of energy to create the HYDROstiks. So, at the end of the day, I really don't see the point.

You can go to instructables.com and get directions on how to make a cell-phone/gadget charger that runs of easily-obtained alkaline batteries. Or, like maigo said, spend $20 on a car charger.

 

[tokenz]

I would buy it. And then rig it up to my kids toys, That way I could save a ton on batteries.

 

[Blessedman]

This is just dumb... I thought the whole idea of a Hydrogen fuel cell was to have a massive amount of power in a very small container. If each 'shtick' contained a 1000 hours of power for $5 then they would be on to something. I want something that cost $100 fits in the palm of my hand and I can power my laptop for 100 hours on it. Then when it runs out of juice I can have my own hydrogen tank to refill it with, not be stuck with having to buy their product over and over and over again. Not to mention do I just throw these sticks away when they are empty, so causing more trash in our dumps.

 

[WR]

That thing's larger than 15 watt-hours of lithium ion rechargeables. And the latter can already pump out at least 15 watts. Very inefficient choice of fuel for the fuel cell, methinks.

 

[geofry]

Give me something I can hook up to a propane tank or methane line or fill up with methanol or ethanol and then I might be interested.

Hydrogen is uninteresting unless they have an optional electrolysis device I can use to refill the tanks.

 

[cammmy]

I think this is great. Even if it's not that amazing now, imagine where the technology could go.

 

[nukemaster]

Many good points are made here.

1. You can build or even buy a portable charger. There is a L-ion one that is a fair bit smaller then this. And there are some from Zap that take 4 AA batteries(There is no voltage regulation, so non rechargeable may overload some devices). I have one I got under the NOMA brand($9 with 4 cheap batteries) and some Eneloops under the Sony(cycle energy) name. I must say it works well and since they batteries are low self discharge, i can leave it unused for long periods of time without it dieing on me.

2. I do also think this is great. The price and size will come down. In the future, i can see this being a good unit in the future with a little work.

 

[Spike53]

If fuel cells work by harvesting the energy in the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen (which makes water), if you keep this in your pocket wouldn't you get a wet mark after a while or does it have water storage?

 

[ordcestus]

[citation][nom]cammmy[/nom]I think this is great. Even if it's not that amazing now, imagine where the technology could go.[/citation]
Agreed it needs some time before we can consider it truly superior to what we have now. whih if you think about is true about alot of these "alternative energy" products

 

[jeffk464]

very nice, make one light and big enough for a 12-15 lbs remote control airplane. Oh yeah.

 

[abbadon_34]

elegantly demonstrates the problems with new wave green energy

 

[Luscious]

Fail. The need to buy replacement juice packs all the time makes it extremely uneconomical. You'll be throwing out hundreds each year on just replenishing the energy.

A smarter choice - $130 buys you an Energizer XP18000 battery pack. Able to hold a charge for up-to a year, rechargeable around 500 times, and can deliver 18,000mAh - that's enough juice to power a netbook for over 20 hours or recharge a smartphone 8-9 times. Small, light and works with pretty much anything.

 

[archange]

Nope, definitely not willing to pay for cartridges. Where are the ethanol fuel cells promised years ago?? I'd rather fill up the cell with than keep replacing cartridges...

But I can see the manufacturer's appeal for cartridges. It's been done for years by Printer suppliers and it's called extortion.

 

[jkflipflop98]

LOL what is up with all these startups shooting themselves in the foot? This little thing is awesome all the way up until the part where you have to keep buying energy cartridges. Energizer already makes throw-away energy cartridges. So basically, these guys are going into the battery business against Energizer, Duracell, etc.

That's like breaking into the semiconductor industry. You need one hell of a gameplan to take down Intel. These guys have no such gameplan.

 

[safcmanfr]

[citation][nom]jellico[/nom]To what end? It still takes traditional fossil-fuel sources of energy to create the HYDROstiks. So, at the end of the day, I really don't see the point. You can go to instructables.com and get directions on how to make a cell-phone/gadget charger that runs of easily-obtained alkaline batteries. Or, like maigo said, spend $20 on a car charger.[/citation]

not unless solar energy is used to produce the hydrogen...

 

[Ciuy]

Terminators seem closer and closer each day....