Alt-Energy Cell Phones Eschew The Power Grid

Alt-energy cell phones eschew the power grid
Tue Oct 6, 2009 1:54PM EDT
By Christopher Null: The Working Guy

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Last month I wrote about a cell phone designed for electricity-starved Africa which could be powered completely by the sun. But solar energy is only one way to get a gadget off the grid, and enterprising inventors are now turning to other alternative means to liberate phones from the cruelty of the power cord.
First, a prototype phone from a company known as TCL is looking to perhaps the oldest of old-school power generators for electrical needs: The human muscle.
By slapping a hand-crank wheel on the back of the phone, TCL lets users simply wind up the phone by hand whenever they need to make a call. A minute of cranking offers about four minutes of talk time, and long-winded chatterers can always crank further for an extension. The TCL phone, known tentatively as the Ventus, can also be charged via a small solar panel when the user is just too tired.
As the linked Telegraph story notes, aftermarket cell phone chargers with hand cranks attached have long been on the market, but this is the first known example of a cell phone with the crank baked right in.
For a higher-tech approach, Japanese cell carrier KDDI is looking to fuel cells to eliminate the need for a wall socket. Fuel cells, a long-promised chemical savior which could someday eliminate batteries from consumer electronics and even automobiles, haven't really made much impact in recent years, though companies continue to demonstrate advances in fuel cell technology on a prototype basis.
Finally it looks like things might be progressing to the point where fuel cells might be getting portable and reliable enough to make an entrance into real consumer products. For the first time, a company has built a fuel cell directly into a phone; previous prototypes have required bulky and impractical external power packs to work.
The advantages of fuel cells are many: They're more efficient than batteries and offer a longer running time for the gadget involved, and they can be recharged by simply "topping off" the reservoir with a little methanol, no need for a connection to the grid. Naturally there are problems with this approach -- who wants to carry a vial of methanol around? and what about traveling on airplanes? or spillage? -- but for some scenarios, particularly ones where power outlets are rarely available, a fuel cell phone might make for an excellent alternative to the usual way of the world.
Personally I'm holding out for a phone that can be recharged just by the energy collected from bouncing around in your pocket all day.
Link to: http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/152432

Link to: http://www.usaalternativeenergynow.blogspot.com