New Industry Products

Voller Energy Launches Rack-Mount Fuel Cells

April 26, 2006 by Jeff Shepard

Voller Energy Group PLC has introduced a new industrial fuel cell system, the VE100 Rack Mount (VE100RM). The new fuel cell system can charge remote monitoring equipment, surveillance cameras and industrial equipment in remote locations. The VE100RM can also be used in conjunction with other power sources such as solar panels or wind turbines to provide continuous power over an extended period of time.

The VE100RM is aimed at customers with a requirement for constant energy, or high up-time equipment in a variety of remote or potentially hostile environments. Historically, most of these applications use batteries, which have to be recharged. The new VE100RM fuel cell system will re-charge them automatically. Using Voller's software, the new fuel cell system logs and monitors the battery charge. This information can be accessed and monitored remotely.

The new fuel cell system is powered by hydrogen gas that can be supplied from a normal compressed hydrogen cylinder and regulator available from any compressed gas supplier or from a refillable canister supplied by Voller Energy. This refillable canister stores hydrogen at low pressure dissolved in a metal hydride salt. The Voller canister can be mounted within the 4U 19" rack mount case enclosure.

Once running, the automatic charge mode, fuel canister reset and various display modes can be selected from the front panel. An 8mm pipe connection is also provided on the front panel for ducting away moist air and water vapour. The unit will automatically 'awaken' from standby mode to charge external batteries when they drop below a preset voltage. This means that the useful lifetime of batteries will be extended and it will also reduce the number of man-hours wasted unnecessarily on checking and recharging the batteries.

Stephen Voller, Chief Executive of Voller said: "This is an exciting development and is further evidence of our ability to provide practical fuel cell system solutions which meet our customers' needs. Today there are so many different types of industrial equipment that need non-mains delivered electric power, so the potential of this new system is substantial. Certainly, the security industry could become a major beneficiary of our technology as it will provide safe, clean and efficient recharging capability for surveillance or other electronic equipment situated in remote locations. It is further evidence of Voller Energy's commitment to providing practical fuel cell system solutions which meet our customers' needs."