 ENERGY ON THE EDGE With energy issues becoming critical, and a growing startup community trying to meet the challenge,
Oregon Business takes a
regular look at local entrepreneurs and their energy
innovations. Can fuel cells replace batteries?THE SITUATION
The world is increasingly moving to wireless sensors for
everything from water and gas meters to shipping container
tracking devices to temperature sensors in industrial freezers
(read: Wal-Mart). Over their decades-long life, these devices
require several rounds of batteries, which are inexpensive, and
labor to physically replace them, which isn’t. THE NEW TECHNOLOGY
WiSPI.net, co-founded by Portlander Doug Morris, would replace
these batteries with a fuel cell about the size of a coin. Fed
by a small tube of methanol, the WiSPI.net fuel cell charges up
an attached battery that runs the larger wireless device.
During the device’s downtime, the fuel cell recharges the
battery. The fuel cell setup lasts for 25 years, or the
theoretical life of most wireless sensors. Morris estimates the
$60 initial cost of WiSPI.net’s fuel cell to be five
times cheaper than the best battery system. DOES IT HAVE JUICE?
Morris, who spent 20 years at Motorola and seven in their
energy systems group, has a solid technology developed under a
Department of Defense DARPA grant at Georgia Tech.
“They have a real competitive advantage in powering
devices that aren’t easy to get to,” says Wayne
Embree, a venture capitalist at Cascadia Partners. Have an opinion? E-mail feedback@oregonbusiness.com |
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