Horizon Technologies’ MiniPAK and HydroSTIK products are extremely impressive pieces of consumer-grade fuel cell technology. As of now, though, you’ll still have to buy refill HydroSTIKs to get yourself new tubes of on-the-road hydrogen power. That changes soon when the company releases the HydroFILL, a small-scale home hydrogen station that uses water to refill your HydroSTIK cartridges.
You’ll need to plug in the device to a wall outlet too, since it needs electricity to isolate the hydrogen and store it into one of the solid state canisters. There’s no clear word on how much electricity converting hydrogen into one canister uses (the device itself consumes 60 watts per hour), so this may or may not be that green of a solution. Alternatively, you can use an optional 60W or 30W solar panel to draw electricity from if you want to work grid-free.
The HydroFILL is a membrane type home generator, measuring a tabletop-friendly 5.6 x 5 x 8.2 inches. Either de-ionized or distilled water is required to operate, consuming about 35ml for every hour of operation. It’s designed to work strictly with the HydroSTIK, so you can’t play with it to experiment with your own hydrogen delivery ideas. According to Horizon, the device should be good for up to 1,000 hours of operation.
Once you’ve topped a canister with hydrogen from the home generator, you can simply slip it into the MiniPAK for charging all your small electronics. It’s compatible with a wide range of handhelds, including cellphones, gaming consoles, GPS systems, small lighting devices and media players.
Ordering for the HydroFILL is now available on the website, priced at $499.99 each. The optional 60W solar panel will damage you another $649.99 if you want it. Shipping won’t commence until August 9th, though.
[Horizon via Design Boom]