Water-Powered Fuel Cell Charger Technology

Swedish alternative energy group myFC has unveiled a novel portable fuel cell charger that's powered by standard tap water and, so, is designed for household use. Called the PowerTrekk, the technology was showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show held between 10-13 January in Las Vegas.

According to the water-powered fuel cell charger's developers, there are millions of global residents without constant access to electricity. The PowerTrekk is being showcased as a solution to this situation and it works by transforming hydrogen into electricity to supply what myFC terms ‘instant power on the go'.

The firm also makes the point that its system doesn't have the limitations associated with solar chargers and, compared to traditional batteries, it maintains its quality for a long longer.

PowerTrekk Water Charger

"PowerTrekk Water Charger gives your mobile phone power anywhere at any time", myFC's Chief Executive Officer, Björn Westerholm, explains in a 4 January press release. "From now on, you do not have to rely on having an electricity grid nearby".

He continues: "The launch of PowerTrekk marks a paradigm shift in fuel cell technology and at myFC we are very excited to bring this cutting edge product to the end consumers."

The PowerTrekk fuel cell generates enough power to recharge a number of different electronic devices including sat navs, cameras and mobile phones. The design includes a tray into which the water used to charge is poured and, from there, the device supplies power through a USB connection. Reports indicate that the cell's capable of delivering the same amount of power as would be provided by four typical AA batteries and can give a mobile phone about 10 hours of life between charges.

Water-Powered Fuel Cell Charger

It's anticipated that this water-powered fuel cell charger will be available to buy by around May or June, priced at somewhere between $200 and $299.

"We see huge interest in our product both from media, the outdoor and ITC industries and consumers", Westerholm stated in an earlier myFC press release. "As a result of this, we currently cannot even meet the market demand for the product. We understood that we were addressing an immense market opportunity but we never fully understood the extreme market demand for a fuel cell charger such as PowerTrekk.

"Each year, around 2 billion mobile phone chargers are sold and the travel charger segment, which is the fastest growing sub-segment, is valued at more than €11 billion."

Enviro News will give this technology further coverage in future News items.

PowerTrekk image copyright myFC

See also:

UK Scientists Advanced Urine-Powered Fuel Cells