Compact Fuel Cell Battery for Laptops Developed

Panasonic announced today that it has developed the world’s smallest fuel cell.

Long-life battery for laptop computers have been much awaited for potential usage in occasions without access to electrical outlets, and fuel battery that generates electricity using fuel such as hydrogen and methanol are expected to be the solution, but there was no existing fuel battery small enough for practical use in laptops. Finally, Japan's leading electronics company Panasonic has succeeded to reduce the size.
The miniaturization of the methyl alcohol pattern fuel battery system for the mobile machine is realized | Panasonic

According to this press release, Panasonic developed the world’s smallest fuel cell for laptops, reducing the size of its predecessor by 50%. The prototype weighs just 320 grams, sized at 270cc, which is about the size of existing lithium ion battery packs currently used for notebook-size laptops. .

The fuel cell will be positioned at the underside of laptops and provides about 20 hours of power with 200cc of fuel. The fuel, highly concentrated methanol, can be stored in bottles.

Panasonic also developed a multi-charger type, a paperback-size fuel cell with two USB terminal that could be used for charging cellular phones and other mobile devices.

Multi-charger type