Neah Power Infinity eL
A lighter, greener battery
Neah Power Infinity eL
Photo courtesy Neah Power
Neah Power’s direct-methanol fuel cells are lighter than batteries and less expensive than other fuel cells. Its novel silicon-based electrode has 40 times as much surface area as most fuel cells, producing more charge while using less platinum catalyst.
This fall, Neah introduced Infinity eL, its demo product line. The company usually tailors its tech to specific applications—for example, a 45-watt cell that can double a three-foot-wide unmanned aerial vehicle’s flying time, without adding weight. Neah cells could soon replace other portable products, including electric-car and laptop batteries.
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Neah Power Infinity eL
A lighter, greener battery
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Probably much higher efficiency than burning the methanol.
From a prior ad that Neah had promoting this fuel cell it cost came to $100 per watt for the Infinity EL series fuel cell. Kind of expensive.
We must not let our addiction to energy compete with food resources. Ethanol from by-products still takes away from potential rebuilding of soil. Hydrogen should be our stored energy of choice?
Silicone Valley might just be back in the spotlights with a lead on battery technology innovation.
I wonder if Moore's Law can be applied anytime soon? :-)
"Learn to Live & Live to Learn"
Alexander von Humboldt
I've been watching this company for years now and have come to the conclusion they couldn"t sell water to a dying man in the desert. The presentations I've seen are boring, not to mention they never have a product demonstration. Who would buy a car they can't drive or a television they can't watch before the purchase.
I have been invested in this company for a long time. This is truly an inovative product. A disruptive technology with so many applications. I'm happy to see that they are getting some recognition.
The micro fuel cells have been done by a few other companies, but this one seems to have a leg up.
Although I applaud the innovation and its weight reductions, I am a little skeptical. Seeing as how they have only recently launched a demo product line, there seems to be very little data to support the claims. I was disappointed to see that they have no product listings on their site (no specifications, nothing) just some cheap graphics and boring powerpoints. I think PopSci should give some credit to companies that have actually produced viable and commercially available micro fuel cells. For instance Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, EnergyOR and Protonex have developed micro fuel cells for UAVs. In fact, Protonex fuel cells have been used in several tests which have set endurance records for small UAVs.