Thread: charging fuel cells using CSP

Here is a link explaining concentrated solar power (CSP):

http://www.energylan.sandia.gov/sunlab/overview.htm

Is it possible to connect one of the system up to a fuel cell station (if there is one ). Wouldn't it be viable to use the energy of the sun to recharge fuel cells using the above tech? So if a fuel cell powered car comes along with an (almost) empty fuel cell, it can swop its empty one with a recharged one.

be brutal

I belive that we have enough know-how to replace all cars with electric ones and use renewable energy insted of other kinds of (and besides much more expensive) fuels.

In future I believe that these battery will last at least 17 hours of driving, so you could drive long distances without having to recharge, forinctance at a toillet or bar, there will be instead of a gas-station there will be a recharge station of somesort where the user can mostprobally recharge the battery of the car for at least a while (maybe 5% for 10 minutes reloading?).
If I was a truck driver I would hae to sleep for a while so recharging would be, also for the truckdiver, no problem.

Since it is possible to recharge these cells using renewable resourses, and like you, miomaz, said cars can go up to 17 hours without recharge, there is no need to bring in petrol in to the system.

In terms of the environment, powering up fuel cells using renewable resourses is very friendly :-D . Hey and if cars start to switch to fuel cells, the air in cities will be cleaner.

Oh and about the waiting time for the car to recharge. If the cars and the fuel cells can be made to be detachable like toys and normal batteries. Then it is simply the case of replacing the depleted fuel cell with a full one (i think i mentioned this before, but hey) that is already in the shelves of the fuel cell station. Since the station is powered by renewable energy, fuel cell shells can be continuously refilled when customers swapped them for a full one.

I read it somewhere that fuel cells can be recharged using hydroelectric power. How are u going to put that in a city!!! Using one CSP system can easily be installed on top of roofs, e.g. on top of the fuel cell station.

IS there any disadvantages to this?