If you need to refill it to get more than two times the energy of one AA battery then it does not contain "the same amount of energy as 1000 disposable AA batteries". Your link, no point in wiggling out.
Already said I was wrong about that, see post 25555 above.
How do you arrive at 1000 refill cycles? Your own link and quote says 100.
Take a look at their FAQs:
http://www.horizonfuelcell.com/files/MinipakFAQ.pdf
From there:
Q: is the MiniPak environmentally?friendly?
A: Besides contributing to overall efficiency, Horizon?s new micro?fuel cell system offers numerous environmental benefits. Only one of its Hydrostik fuel cartridges can deliver the same amount of power over its lifetime than roughly 1000 disposable alkaline AA batteries, while storing more energy at a lower cost. In addition, they do not contain any toxic materials and can be completely recycled using conventional methods.
Replacing 600?3000 AA size batteries is based on the following assumptions, 1 Hydrostick = 6 Duracell AA batteries, on average. At 1W power output, 1 Hydrostick = 10 AA batteries (1 AA battery runs 1 hour at 1W) 100 charge cycles/canister at this stage, however can reach 500 cycles, even up to 1000 cycles. 6*100= 600 batteries. 6*500=3000 AA batteries.
They further say one cartridge fill can replace 10 disposable batteries... that's expecting 1.1Wh per battery, quite pathetic really. Didn't you yourself talk about 4000mAh at 1.5V? Surely not 100% of that is usable, but 1.1Wh would be less than 20%.
Replacing 10 is very far on the optimistic side, maybe three or four rather than the theoretical two? One cartridge is $10, how much are three or four disposable batteries? Less.
Right now, these are being marketed more to commercial and business users rather than to residential/individual customers. It does, however, make more financial sense than vast quantities of NiMHs or disposables in field situations. One of my clients is thinking about buying these things for field power packs. We have a tote half full of dead NiMH batteries that won't charge any more, waiting to be full so we can send it off to a recycler. It should fill up by Christmas, then we'll get it emptied and start again. That's getting to be ridiculous so they're looking at other alternatives; they're also looking at getting the
Hydropack powerpack as well as some of their other products. We're supposed to be getting the evaluation units in about 6 more weeks, so I can tell you more then.
At any rate, one cartridge is $10 (for now), but can then be recharged at least 100 times. It's not "buy one cartridge and toss it," field tests have shown that a cartridge can be refilled and reused for up to 1000 times if it is not physically damaged.
They say this thing is 176cm?. One AA battery projected as a cuboid (ie measured without using the space between two) is about 9.8cm?, hence this thing is as large as eighteen AA batteries packed badly, you could space space by interlacing them at half-battery offsets but I'm too lazy to do the maths, maybe twenty.
My external booster pack for the iPhone is about that size and doesn't charge the thing as fast as this thing is said to be able to do. It also takes four AAs; keep in mind that this unit isn't just "power pack" but also a self-regulating USB charger, as is the MiniPak, so it contains more than just batteries and some wires.
Charging it with the $500 station takes one hour at 60W, or 60Wh. With that energy you could charge loads of NiMH or Lithium batteries storing much more than just 20% of the energy you put in. Without hydrogen storage you don't have instant recharging.
It doesn't have more power than a battery - this thing produces only 2.5W of power. A battery of the same weight would give you dozens of Watts of power.
Perhaps (the literature seems to disagree with you, as they claim it's at least 10-15% more efficient to charge than batteries) but it would also weigh a lot more; the maker says that it weighs less than batteries of similar size. And as I've said above, the entire thing isn't filled with a fuel cell, either.
They also have an optional solar panel that can be used for charging on site.
Electric cars suck mmkay.
In other news:
My parents have a 2010 Jetta TDI. It's white, with the automatic 6-speed DSG (+$1,000), a sunroof (+$1,000) and about 30,000 miles.
The car had an MSRP for $22,660. With options it was $24,660. Parents talked them down to $22,500 when they bought it in probably late 2009, early 2010.
Kelley Blue Book on the car, with those options and that amount of miles, is $24,995. How is it worth MORE than it was when it was brand new!? They're even going for $23-25,000 on Ebay! Talk about holding value!
Just thought I'd share.
It's called "Cash For Clunkers" and elevated fuel prices distorting the hell out of the used car market. Also, the marked increase in inflation reduces a dollar's buying power (as well I know from trying to buy stuff from overseas of late.)
it's just basic arithmetic.
