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| Upp - Hydrogen Powered Charging Solution |
How does it work?
The Upp fuel cell uses hydrogen – provided by specialized
fuel cartridges, and combines it with air to produce clean electricity with
water vapour as a by-product. Users simply need to combine the Upp fuel cell
with a fuel cartridge and can begin powering their devices.
Upp cartridges can be refuelled for less than $5 (NGN 850)
or less than 1$ (NGN 170) to charge your phone. The entire device will cost
less than $200 (NGN 34,000), which is rather expensive for device peripheral no
matter how you decided to look at it.
Feasibility Study
In Nigeria today is true that the national electrical grid
does not provide a reliable electricity supply for the country, as a result every
household has at least one power generator capable of supplying an entire home
with electricity. With the growing number of smart-devices in the region and
the projected increases over the next few years this is lucrative avenue to
explore. But others before Upp have successfully provided more economic
alternatives to this problem.
In Lagos, Nigeria – the economic hub of the country, you can
readily find crude yet effective mobile phone charging kiosks, usually powered
by small petrol powered electric generators. At these kiosks charging your
device will cost you between NGN 50 – 100 ($ 0.29 – 0.58).
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| Local Charging Kiosk - Lagos, Nigeria
Photo Credit: Elizabeth Musa
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For those who prefer more mobile charging options you can
buy a portable battery charger, which is essentially a battery pack that once fully
charged can be used to juice up your device up to 4-5 times without any extra
cost to you. These devices on an average go for NGN 5,000 ($30), significantly cheaper
than the $200 price point estimated for the Upp.
Conclusion
I feel the Upp is a welcome addition to the list of solutions
provided to help the Nigerian populous cope with the lack of reliable
electricity. But due to its high price point and cost of maintenance – not to
mention Nigeria being a country with most of its population below the poverty
line, I worry about its level of adoption. It most-likely will be only adopted
by individuals within the higher middle class and upper class minority, which
may or may not be a bad thing depending on the expectations of Intelligent Energy
for the device.
The Upp will be available for purchase in Nigeria and South
Africa from mid – December before being made available in the rest of the world
next year.
So what do you think about the Upp? Will you be getting one?
I would make a neat Christmas present wouldn’t it?
Sources - 1
Sources - 1
