Portable hydrogen fuel cell

[ShrimpBurrito]

Need power and don't want to listen to a generator? Not enough sun for solar panels? Enter the portable hydrogen fuel cell.

Looks to be about the size of a 6 or 12-pack of beer, and packs 200 Wh of energy. At 12VDC, that's roughly 16 Ah. When it runs out, swap in another cartridge, add water, and you have another cell.

No price yet, so perhaps this is all academic. It's supposed to launch late this year. But I think I remember reading that replacement cartridges were going to be about $20. And they already have refilling stations for smaller cartridges.

http://www.horizonfuelcell.com/store/hydropak.htm
http://www.horizonfuelcell.com/file/...k_brochure.pdf

They already have a smaller unit launched (the "MiniPak") that powers small devices, like an MP3 player, cell phone charging, etc.

http://www.horizonfuelcell.com/store/minipak.htm

While I don't see replacement cartridges for this smaller unit, they do have a refilling station that they will soon launch, but again, no price.

http://www.horizonfuelcell.com/store/hydrofill.htm

But it looks like you simply insert the cartridge, add water, plug it in, and presumably through electrolysis, it generates hydrogen. The cartridge then somehow stores it as a low pressure solid.

Something to keep you eye on perhaps, at least for a price. Interesting stuff.

Dave