Prepare your hydrogen, friends, because the age of fuel cells just might be upon us. MyFC is an unfunded fuel cell company that is showing prototypes of fuel cells that could be built into cases a la the Mophie. The cells run on small hydrogen packs and can fold over surfaces. They could even be embedded inside cellphone bodies.
UPDATE – They have funding. I meant unfunded in the commercial sense as I understand it from the gadget side.
The company has two products, the 1636 chip that fits inside a charger-sized enclosure and the FuelCellSticker, the bendable model. The maximum output is 0.9W at .5V while the four-cell model outputs 3.2W at 2V. It is .11 inches (3mm) thick and weighs a mere .2 ounces (5g).
The company is currently making these devices to order and they are reasonably priced at consumer levels. The 1636 reference design works now while the bendable models are available in any shape and size.
Don’t look for these at Circuit City just yet, but they’re amazingly close to production.
What are you talking about, “unfunded”?
From their home page:
24 Sep 08 The Sixth AP Fund (Sweden), KTH Chalmers Capital (Sweden) and STING Capital (Sweden) invest in Swedish Fuel Cell Company, myFC AB
http://www.myfc.se/press.html#sep08
and more about the funding part as i have fiends working close to their facilities:
September 2006
myFC Awarded Funding from Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Nutek)
For it’s innovative micro fuel cell technology, myFC has been awarded funding to continue the development of a portable cordless cellphone charger. The project will be performed in cooperation with KTH.
That is an amazing technology, I wonder how long it will take to come to market.
Also, isn’t it a pain in the rear to use hydrogen cells? I mean, aren’t they super cold and unstable?.. or am I remembering high school physics incorrectly?
I guess you shouldn’t be looking for much of ANYTHING at Circuit City these days.
Great Stuffs, we added to our list of Fuel Cell Entrepreneurs :-) http://www.spirofrog.de/index.php?PHPSESSID=5f2b4eb12ec11e188e35aac04e83bf38&subcatid=302&mode=listarticles&
Cleantech is hot!
There was another company in the name of PowerPaper who was active in this field. Anybody know if they’re still active?
my comments at http://www.commentino.com/orim
Never heard of them going after fuel cell tech, just Li+. Cosmetics (LOL) and RFID were their target markets (they may have had a third).
How do you define “amazingly close to production,” and how do you know that “they’re amazingly close to production?”
The one Company from Germany – Our customer is already delivering Power Manager and Fuel cells to the US Army! http:/www.sfc.com – that is REAL!
sorry http://www.sfc.com
How can these be close to production? The cell itself is small and bendable, but the H2 container certainly is not– where does one get the hydrogen from? Electrolysis at home? I can’t see this being cheaper than LiION for years, and it certainly isn’t greener until we find a new way to produce hydrogen.
Correct. The H2 container would have to be carried in a backpack, which at this time weighs about 7.3 lbs. The new lightweight phones + the H2 container will reach the market by 2010. At that time, both units will weigh approximately 2.8 lbs…
Forgive the uninitiated comment but why “fuel” cell? Shouldn’t they be called energy cells? Just a question…
Not sure I fully understand the technology, but it seems like their is a reactant that may need to be replenished? Or maybe you need to clean off a oxidant? If people have to toss/replace these over time, that may be something to consider. Takes less space and may be much less toxic though compared to batteries. I know the military has been using these for things like radio power packs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell
Yay, Skynet can know power his terminator more easily and they will last longer.
Wow, these boys are gonna see millions. This is a great product!
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