Fuel Cell Technology

Fuel cell technology has been with us a long time - invented by a welshman named William Grove in 1839. Despite the technology being around for the last 150 years, it's true potential and actual use has been limited, in fact, practically none existent.
NASA employed the use of fuel cell technology as early as the Apollo missions, some submarines have used them since the 1980's, and most car manufacturers have produced a prototype car to utilise this power source.

Unfortunately, readily available commercial products have been a long time coming, primarily due to the expence of production. This is soon to change with a number of manufacturers developing fuel cell technology for use in mobile phones, laptops and other portable devices.

Personally, I have a particular interest in hydrogen fuel cells in conjunction with photovoltaic cells as a potential power source for our homes. These type of system uses the photovoltaic cells to produce electricity, and any unused, excess power is then used to generate hydrogen which is stored for use in the fuel cell to provide electricity when the solar source isn't readily available (at night for example). This system is very much like the experimental house built by the University of Kebangsaan in Malaysia. Other examples being developed for home use are Panasonic's Household Fuel Cell Cogeneration System, a unit that runs on natural gas, and Honda's Home Energy Station III, also running on natural gas and which provides the energy required for the Fuel Cell Car aswell as the home.

There is still a while before a fully self-sufficient system is developed and available for household installation, but I believe it is more a case of when as opposed to if such a fuel cell will become available.

I am very much open to comments and suggestions regarding the idea of household fuel cells, so any comments, links or additional information will be greatfully recieved!