Finding new energy sources has been a major quest in the 21st century. The challenge is not simply to find alternatives for traditional energy sources like crude oil and coal to generate power on a large scale but also to produce power to energize micro and nano scale devices. For electricity production in the nano and the micro scale, research has been done on technologies including fuel cells and batteries.This study is focused on two themes, i.e., the use of a microbial fuel cell and an enzymatic fuel cell for potential bioMEMS/NEMS applications. In the first , a fully functional fuel cell with yeast as the microbe using glucose as the fuel was tested to characterize its performance. In the second phase, a lactate dehydrogenase based enzymatic fuel cell using lactate as the fuel was tested to understand the performance characteristics.

Abstract There are rural areas in Ghana which are off-grid but where there is a need for street lighting. Street lighting facilities in such areas typically store electrical power in lead-acid batteries. The goal of this thesis is to construct a facility where fuel cells and hydrogen accumulation replace lead-acid batteries. The construction consists of a solar cell which transmits DC power to an electrolyzer which in turn produces hydrogen and oxygen. The gases accumulate in the container until nightfall when it starts providing DC power to street lighting via a fuel cell. The street lights can operate between 5 - 10 hours per day, depending on the power of the lamp. Besides providing street lighting the device may also be used for other purposes such as indoor lighting, charging of mobile phones etc. This means that, in addition to the basic purpose of providing electrical power to the street lights, other co-benefits of social significance can be achieved. The device is designed not to create any harmful emissions during operation, thus being environmentally sustainable. Further research on the device may in a second step entail: Construction of a prototype on a smaller scale, where calculations and function are tested. If it turns out well, a third step can begin: To build a full scale plant to be tested on site in Ghana.

This report will investigate and go through the steps required to develop several concepts for afuel cell-powered battery charger to be used in the field by Husqvarna AB. The purpose is togather information about available fuel cell technologies and provide an understanding of howthese concepts could look in both the present and the future. Through an examination ofprevious studies in the field, it has been determined that the most suitable types of fuel cells arePEMFC and DMFC. Additional information has been collected from various sources, such asthe internet, books, and through contact with fuel cell manufacturers and Husqvarna AB.Three different fuel cells were chosen, each of which was assigned a unique concept. Two ofthese concepts are more future-oriented, aiming to provide a better idea of how the productcould look if the requirements are strictly followed. The third concept demonstrates how theproduct would need to appear and the features required to be more suitable for the present.Finally, a comparison was made where the technical characteristics of concepts were pittedagainst each other, and weighted requirements showed that the concept containing EFOY´s12000 pro fuel cell moved forward. / Denna rapport kommer att utreda och gå igenom de moment som krävs för att komma fram tillett flertal koncept för en bränslecellsdriven batteriladdare som ska användas ute på fältet förföretaget Husqvarna AB. Syftet är att samla information om tillgängliga teknologier förbränsleceller och ge en bild av hur dessa koncept skulle kunna se ut både i framtiden och idagsläget. Genom att undersöka tidigare studier inom ämnet har det bestämts att de mestlämpliga typerna av bränsleceller är PEMFC och DMFC. Ytterligare information har samlats infrån olika källor, såsom internet, böcker och genom kontakt med företag som producerarbränsleceller samt Husqvarna AB.Tre olika bränsleceller valdes, (EFOY 12000 pro, IE-LIFT 1T/1U och IE-LIFT 804), där var ochen av dessa fick varsitt unikt koncept. Två av dessa koncept är mer inriktade på framtiden föratt ge en bättre bild av hur produkten skulle kunna se ut om man följer kravspecifikationenstrikt. Det tredje konceptet visar bättre hur produkten skulle behöva se ut och vilka funktionersom skulle behövas för att vara mer lämplig för produktion i dagsläget.Slutligen gjordes en jämförelse där konceptens tekniska egenskaper ställdes mot varandra därviktade krav visade att konceptet som innehöll EFOY’s 12000 pro bränslecell gick vidare.