We have talked about hydrogen fuel cells before around here. The ones we are familiar with are usually small and can barely produce enough power to charge a smartphone. The world’s largest hydrogen fuel cell is shipping to Ohio for its 5-year trial run.

The massive fuel cell is mounted inside a semi trailer and produces enough juice to run 500 homes. The actual amount of power the fuel cell produces is 1 megawatt, almost enough to send Doc Brown back to the future. The massive fuel cell produces only water as a byproduct.

Hydrogen fuel cells are one of the things that promise to power our gadgets without needing to plug them in or use electricity. However, getting the hydrogen for the fuel cells to run on does require power of some sort.

A new device called the HydroFill is available that can be ran from an AC outlet or a solar panel. The device uses plain distilled water to generate hydrogen that it stores inside HydroStik containers. Those HydroStik containers can then be used in the MiniPak hand held fuel cell charger.

I know many gadget fans are looking forward to the day when fuel cells power our gadgets so that we can be free of AC outlets for good. Fuel cells will eventually make their way into our notebook computers and mobile phones. An interim step is a fuel cell charger for mobile devices.

MTI MicroFuel Cells has announced its prototype Mobion fuel cell charger that is hand held and can charge an average mobile phone for up to a month on one fuel cartridge. When the cartridge runs dry, you simply snap in a new one and keep charging.