Fuel Cell For Charging Gadgets

The route to clean energy is through small gadgets, according to Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies.
The company said Monday that it will show off the HydroFill, a home-use fuel cell system suitable for charging small electronics, at this week's Consumer Electronics Show. The product is set for release later in 2010.

The HydroFill extracts hydrogen gas from water and stores it in Hydrostik cartridges with a metal alloy that absorbs the hydrogen. To then charge electronic devices, people use a pocket-size fuel cell charger, called a MiniPak, which pulls hydrogen from the cartridges and a produces an electrical current. The MiniPak can charge devices through a USB port and cell phone adapter, and the company offers an optional AA-battery charger.



The HydroFill system, the Hydrostik cartridges, and a solar panel.
Horizon is touting the HydroFill as a small step on the way to the so-called hydrogen economy, in which hydrogen is an energy carrier and fuel cells make electricity. The company already offers a larger off-grid portable charging system, which uses the same basic technology, and plans to expand into other areas, such as gardening equipment.

The HydroFill system is clean during use because the chemical reaction that happens in hydrogen fuel cells only produces water vapor and no air pollutants.

To charge the hydrogen cartridges, people either plug the HydroFill into an electrical outlet or use a small solar panel. It's also compatible with small wind turbines.

The HydroFill system can pump out 2.5 watts of power, making it suitable for smart phones, small digital cameras, GPS units, and cell phones that typically use 5-volt USB chargers. Pricing for the HydroFill and related components wasn't immediately available.

Solar-Powered Radio Headphones

The Solar-Powered Radio Headphones are perfect for people who love listening to the radio rather than listening to their MP3 player. I must admit, I much prefer radio as I enjoy the banter between the radio presenters just as much as a random choice of music. With this radio however, it’s charged via the solar-panel on the top of the headphones.

The radio headphones feature a AAA battery that stores the charge from the solar panel. You get between one and three hours of listening from an hour of sunlight. A fully-charged headset will give you a total of 20 hours listening time. So you might want to leave your headphones in the sun to charge up when you’re not using them.

The headset is completely adjustable to suit all head sizes. The Solar-Powered Radio Headphones cost £24.95 plus delivery.

Update 16th Dec 2009 – Unfortunately this product is no longer available to buy.

Eco Button PC Energy Saving Device

The Eco Button is a retro-fit device that you plug into your PC’s USB port that makes it quick and easy to put your computer into an energy saving mode. The button is designed to suspend your computer when you disappear to answer the phone, have some lunch, go to meetings, etc. When you return to your PC, just hit the button to quickly wake the computer up again, right where you left off!

The EcoButton triggers the most eco-friendly energy saving mode available on a PC, which is almost equivalent to the computer being switched off completely! The main benefit of the EcoButton is that it makes it as easy as possible to use this energy saving mode, literally at the press of a button.

Based on an average sized machine of around 200 Watts, and an electricity cost of around £0.16 per kWh, and when the Eco Button is used for 4 hours per day for 1 year, savings are estimated to be around £50 per year ( about $85 USD). Which is roughly equivalent to a saving of 135kg of carbon dioxide emissions a year! The software includes a meter which calculates your actual energy savings and carbon footprint.

The EcoButton is designed to be used with a Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista 32-bit PC, as the EcoButton is not yet compatible with Apple Macs or Windows 7. The button itself measures 5.5cm (L) x 5.5cm (W) x 1.5cm (H) and sits on top of your desk in front of your PC. The idea is that the button is a constant reminder to save energy using your PC.