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Loughborough – December 15, 2015 – Intelligent Energy, the energy technology company, announced today it has developed a prototype of a hydrogen fuel cell powered range extender for drones. The range extender offers longer flight time and fast re-fuel capabilities, addressing two of the biggest challenges for manufacturers of battery-powered drones. Intelligent Energy will unveil its prototype of the fuel cell range extender on a drone at CES 2016, January 6-9 in Las Vegas. The company has been really encouraged by the positive reaction from potential customers to this prototype.

The lucrative market for commercial and enterprise drones is rapidly growing. However it is currently held back by the short range and long recharging times associated with batteries. By combining an ultra lightweight fuel cell stack with a battery, Intelligent Energy’s range extender offers up to several hours of drone flight time rather than the typical 20 minutes maximum flight times seen today. In addition, fuel cells can significantly reduce the downtime currently required for recharging between flights – from one to two hours to an average of two minutes.

“Drones are one of the most exciting new technologies. Even with advanced batteries their value is limited. For commercial use, they need to offer better flight times and range,” said Julian Hughes, Group Business Development Director and Acting Managing Director for Intelligent Energy’s Consumer Electronics Division. “That will all become possible with the release of our range extender platform. A longer flight time coupled with a quick re-fuel opens a wide range of new commercial possibilities for businesses such as drones for inspection of offshore platforms, search and rescue, high quality aerial photography, precision agriculture and parcel delivery and more. Given we also have the ability to tailor solutions to customer requirements, this could completely revolutionise the potential of drone technology.”

In the last decade Intelligent Energy has worked with Boeing Phantom Works to power the world’s first manned fuel cell aircraft in commercial airspace and with Airbus for an auxiliary power unit.  For the past 14 months it has independently tested drones with fuel cell and battery hybrid systems. Flight tests were conducted on two configurations: one solely powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, the other powered by a fuel cell-battery hybrid system. A camera was operated on the test flights and was found to record a steady image with no interruptions, a critical feature for commercial drone use.

Intelligent Energy’s prototypical hybrid fuel cell drone range extender will be shown at a special Intelligent Energy Embedded World event at CES 2016. Attendees will get a first-hand look at the impact fuel cells can have on devices, ranging from smartphones and tablets to drones. Intelligent Energy will be introducing Embedded World at The Venetian Hotel on Tuesday, 5 January - Thursday, 7 January in Las Vegas. To make an appointment to discover how embedded fuel cells could power your consumer electronics device or to view the prototype and speak to an Intelligent Energy expert, please email: julian.hughes@intelligent-energy.com or callie.mortimer@intelligent-energy.com

 

 

About Intelligent Energy

Intelligent Energy Holdings plc is an energy technology group which develops efficient and clean hydrogen fuel cell power systems for the global automotive, consumer electronics, distributed power and generation markets – from powering zero-emission vehicles to compact energy packs for mobile devices and stationary power units for the always-on infrastructure.

Working with international companies, Intelligent Energy aims to embed its technology in mass market applications to solve the challenges of continuous power and productivity, by creating everyday energy solutions to power people’s lives. The Group’s intellectual property and expertise is based around proprietary fuel cell technologies, which are the product of over 25 years of research and development. Its patent portfolio includes more than 1,000+ patents granted and 1,000 patents pending across over 400 patent families. The Group also maintains a significant body of confidential know-how and trade secrets.

With its principal facility and headquarters in Loughborough, UK, the company also has operations in India, Japan and Singapore, a commercial office in Silicon Valley, USA and development facilities co-located at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission in Grenoble and at NASA in Florida, USA. Intelligent Energy Holdings plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and has an ADR program in the USA (LSE: IEH; ADR: INGYY).

More information on Intelligent Energy is available at Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. Or visit http://www.intelligent-energy.com.

 

UK Media Contact:

Rachel Magson

H+K Strategies for Intelligent Energy

rachel.magson@hkstrategies.com

+44 (0)207 413 3218

드론이라고 하면 보통 비행시간은 10분 가량, 고급형이라고 해봐야 20∼30분 정도에 불과하다. 이렇게 짧은 이유는 배터리 전원을 이용하는 탓이다. 배터리 문제를 해결하지 않는다면 비행시간 향상은 기대하기 어렵다. 이런 문제를 해결하기 위해 에너지원으로 주목받는 게 바로 수소다.   수소 드론을 공개한 기업은 영국 인텔리전트에너지(Intelligent Energy). 기반으로 삼은 DJI의 매트리스100(Matrice 100)로 여기에 수소 발전 장치를 내장했다. 수소가 산소와 결합해 물이 되는 과정에서 전력을 만들어 드론을 구동하는 것이다. 배출되는 건 수증기 같은 친환경 요인이다.     또 연료 역할을 하는 수소가 없어지면 상단에 있는 수소 탱크를 교환하기만 하면 된다. 재충전 같은 노력을 할 필요도 없는 것이다. 최근 수소 발전으로 스마트폰이나 노트북을 구동하려는 방안이 나오기도 한다. 수소를 에너지원으로 삼은 솔루션에 대한 관심이 높아지고 있는 것.     이 회사는 이미 프로토타입 기체를 이용해 비행 시험을 마쳤다고 한다. 순수 수소 동력 뿐 아니라 수소와 배터리 조합을 이용한 것이라고 한다.. 어쩌면 수소연료 자동차에 시도되고 있는 수소와 배터리 조합 쪽이 실용화 쪽에 훨씬 가까울 수 있다. 수소 드론은 2016년 1월 미국 라스베이거스에서 열리는 CES2016 기간 중 선보일 예정이다. 관련 내용은이곳에서 확인할 수 있다.