Portable hydrogen-powered fuel cell chargers for mobile devices have been around for a few years now. One case in point is the Horizon MiniPak, which was launched in 2010 with a power capacity of 12 Wh. The Upp ups the capacity with 25 Wh and works in conjunction with an accompanying app that provides device info and details of locations at which spent cartridges can be exchanged for new ones.
Intelligent Energy, the UK-based company that developed the Upp, claims that each cartridge provides an estimated five smartphone charges via its USB port and can easily be swapped out for another when depleted. Once the mobile device has been recharged, the Upp will automatically switch off so as to avoid wasting power, or can be set to charge a device to a specific level.
This is done using the app, which is available for iOS and Android devices and allows users to put the Upp into flight mode to prevent continuous charging, as well as showing exactly how much energy the current cartridge has left and what the remaining power can be used for. The app will also use GPS to locate the nearest outlet to purchase new cartridges, and also provides support materials and access to customer support.
The Upp costs £149 (US$226) and comes with one cartridge. Additional cartridges can be bought for £50 ($76), with a fee of £5.95 (US$9) charged when exchanging spent cartridges for new ones. A protective case is also available for device.
The video below provides an introduction to the Upp.
Source: Upp
1000 watt gasoline generator running at a quarter load gives you 250 watts. continuously and will give you about 2500 watt hours from a gallon of gasoline at that rate.
it weighs a little over 30 pounds WITH a gallon of gasoline. but that weight also includes an INVERTER . the comparison below uses the specs on ups website.
Voltage 5V Rated Power 5W Maximum Output Current 1000mA Fuel Cartridge Capacity 25wh Weight Upp Fuel Cell 235g Upp Fuel Cartridge 385g
to get 250 watts you need 50 of the devices. the device weights 235grams. that means about 12 kilograms of device wired together. somewhere around 25 pounds. to get 2500 watt hours of fuel at that rate you will need 100 cartidges. and this is ----well. over 38 kilograms. so you need another 80 pounds of fuel. totalling over 100 pounds.
so -----even though your generator and a gallon of gas makes noise , it weighs 4 times less and can put out 4 times more power. than 50 upp fuel cells wired in parrallel.
oh yea--------------and a generator with a gallon of gas costs under 1000 dollars. at 225 dollars (assuming no shipping cost) ---50 fuel cells cost 11100 dollars. at 75 dollars a cartridge , 100 cartridges come in at a wopping 7500 dollars versus a 3 dollar gallon of gasoline.
ok-------so you're talking 18,000 dollars for inferior , yet silent, performance.
for ANYTHING BUT A CELL PHONE. THIS IS TOTALLY USELESS.
This thing might be good to have in an emergency pack. Other than that, it's way too costly and cartridges are scarce. There's nowhere to buy a cartridge in any major US city.