Press Release

Sony Prototypes Ultra-Small Fuel Cell

Sony Corp of Japan has prototyped an ultra-small fuel cell system that fits into the palm of your hand. Including fuel cell, fuel cartridge, Li-polymer rechargeable battery and control circuit, it measures only about 50 x 30 x 20mm. This is the first announcement by the company that it has prototyped a practical fuel cell system including rechargeable battery, control circuit and other elements.

Until now, Sony has limited its involvement with portable fuel cells to announcing evaluation results for solid polymer electrolyte membranes using fullerene, membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) using them, and similar projects. The new announcement is positioned as a product prototype. According to an engineer at Sony's Material Laboratory, We have been aiming for a system that can be put into mobile gear, and we've finally reached the level of commercial design.

The prototype is a direct methanol fuel cell, using methanol fuel, and has an active design with a pump to regulate fuel supply. Output density has not been disclosed, but instantaneous peak output is 3W. A Sony spokesman explained: 3W is more than sufficient to handle peak output demand for a mobile phone.

Energy utilization efficiency is also high: 10cc of methanol will power a one-segment mobile phone video receiver for 14 hours of continuous viewing. The company plans to work on commercial implementations for a variety of portable equipment.