Renewable Education: Looking Ahead
Edustak represents the cutting edge of Horizon’s education line, hydrogen fuel cell stack technology available on a small yet powerful scale. In real scale vehicles and energy storage solutions, fuel cells are “stacked” to create enormous energy storage capacity which can then be integrated with a super capacitor or engine. The Edustak series lets educators and students discover this technology themselves by building their own stack, powering their own systems and measuring power output. With the addition of the Horizon Energy Monitor, teachers have a powerful tool to measure the efficiency and energy levels of this technology.
The animus for Edustak was the realization that even our most comprehensive kits, like the Horizon Energy Box and the Renewable Energy Science Kit, demonstrated only the principles of single PEM, saltwater or direct ethanol fuel cells. For a higher level, more in-depth exploration of the astonishing power potential of fuel cell technology we needed to develop a science kit that enables students to build and measure their own stacks.
Like all Horizon education products, Edustak demonstrates technology that is making a difference in the real world. Micro-CHP, perhaps the most promising of the localized energy solutions, utilizes stacks in a system that converts energy into heat and electricity with the excess sold back to the grid. Fuel cell stacks also play an important role in emergency power systems, providing reliable backup power for homes, hospitals and data centers. Uninterrupted power supply utilizes fuel cells to ensure systems in remote areas that require stable, long-term power can continue without disruption in the face of power cuts or losses.
Quite simply, with Edustak Horizon is aiming for hands on, practical education with a relevant and fast evolving technology.