Javelyn: Possible application? How about that burgeoning market sector which should be a whole lot bigger by ~2003, palmtop computing. Hell, for that matter, I see them everywhere more and more these day's, at least here in the Northeast. See this URL:
moorshead.com
Of course, right now they're powered by double AA's. To the tune of ~35 hours of life, and yes, it'd be hard right now to economically justify replacing them, but with the increasing number of applications being devised to run on them, not to mention chip sophistication, I think they're going to need a stronger power source. By the way, I like that term you used, "digital furnace." Heh! Is that an original from you, or did it come from somewhere else? It's an appropriate metaphor for the electronic home.
Another longer term possibility could be a synergistic relationship between fuel cells, solar cells, and a sophisticated battery "sink." I can think of several applications that Lith-poly could be used for, although NiMHd would work just about as well, maybe better since the CEO of Ford is on record as once stating, "You can't break the damn things(NiMHd)."
All-n-all, with all the new technology out there on the horizon waiting to come on line I've got a feeling the first decade of the new millenium is going to be VERY exciting, particularly from an alternative energy generation/storage standpoint.
Regards!
John~ |
