Okay, here it is. I'm a lousy photographer, but I've posted pictures of my new fuel-cell car here. Click on a thumbnail to see a bigger view.
It has a solar panel and a bi-directional fuel cell. In full, bright sunlight it seems to take about a half an hour to produce a full charge of hydrogen (and oxygen). On a bright overcast day I think it would take about 3 hours. It's slower in late afternoon as the insolation decreases.
Picture 1 shows the solar panel and the plastic tube from the left side of the fuel cell to the oxygen tank. Picture 2 shows the car a bit more clearly. In the back are the oxygen and hydrogen storage "tanks," essentially plastic cups inverted in a larger, rectangular tank of water, which holds the gasses in, under the pressure of about 2 inches of water (when full).
You have to manually plug and unplug the wires from the solar cell and the motor to select whether to charge or run. The book says you can connect both to achieve hybrid operation: the car will run directly from the solar panel in full sunlight, and then run on hydrogen when shaded. However, on my carpet, the solar panel does not produce enough current to run the car. Maybe with brighter light, or a flatter surface.
The first time I ran it, it ran for about 3 minutes on a not-quite-full charge. I have it charging again now and this time I'm going to charge it all the way and then time it to see how long it runs.
The kit cost $120 from Discover This on Yahoo Shopping. Shipping was free. The car body is very cheap-looking. The only parts of any real value are the multi-meter, the solar panel, the fuel cell, and a thick book of experiments suitable for kids over 12. I'm guessing at most $40 for everything but the fuel cell, and $80 for the fuel cell, which seems to put out about as much power as an AA battery. (It's a 3-volt system, so you'd need 2 AA batteries to run it, but then you'd have a lot more power. The car struggles on my very-low-pile carpet.)
It's fun. It's cool. And it's a pretty good demonstration of how impractical fuel cells are. As a toy, it's a good demonstration of the chemistry & the physics involved. But it shows how much more economical batteries are. A single rechargable AA battery would probably provide more power at about 4% of the cost. Clearly, fuel cells will improve. But so will batteries.
It has a solar panel and a bi-directional fuel cell. In full, bright sunlight it seems to take about a half an hour to produce a full charge of hydrogen (and oxygen). On a bright overcast day I think it would take about 3 hours. It's slower in late afternoon as the insolation decreases.
Picture 1 shows the solar panel and the plastic tube from the left side of the fuel cell to the oxygen tank. Picture 2 shows the car a bit more clearly. In the back are the oxygen and hydrogen storage "tanks," essentially plastic cups inverted in a larger, rectangular tank of water, which holds the gasses in, under the pressure of about 2 inches of water (when full).
You have to manually plug and unplug the wires from the solar cell and the motor to select whether to charge or run. The book says you can connect both to achieve hybrid operation: the car will run directly from the solar panel in full sunlight, and then run on hydrogen when shaded. However, on my carpet, the solar panel does not produce enough current to run the car. Maybe with brighter light, or a flatter surface.
The first time I ran it, it ran for about 3 minutes on a not-quite-full charge. I have it charging again now and this time I'm going to charge it all the way and then time it to see how long it runs.
The kit cost $120 from Discover This on Yahoo Shopping. Shipping was free. The car body is very cheap-looking. The only parts of any real value are the multi-meter, the solar panel, the fuel cell, and a thick book of experiments suitable for kids over 12. I'm guessing at most $40 for everything but the fuel cell, and $80 for the fuel cell, which seems to put out about as much power as an AA battery. (It's a 3-volt system, so you'd need 2 AA batteries to run it, but then you'd have a lot more power. The car struggles on my very-low-pile carpet.)
It's fun. It's cool. And it's a pretty good demonstration of how impractical fuel cells are. As a toy, it's a good demonstration of the chemistry & the physics involved. But it shows how much more economical batteries are. A single rechargable AA battery would probably provide more power at about 4% of the cost. Clearly, fuel cells will improve. But so will batteries.
