MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc. ("MTI Micro"), the developer of Mobion® off-the-grid portable power solutions and a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology, Incorporated ("MTI") (NASDAQ: MKTY), today announced that it has achieved 2,700 hours of continuous operation with a Mobion® laboratory cell — the building block of the Company´s Mobion® chip and systems. In comparison, a typical cell phone plan in the U.S., marketed to moderate to heavy users, includes 3,000 minutes per month which, over the life of a typical 2 year contract, translates to only 1,200 hours of use.
In an industry report published by the Journal of Power Sources, tests conducted on direct methanol micro fuel cells show degradation of up to 35% after only 360 hours of operation. In addition to the 2,700 hours of continuous run-time, our Mobion® test, which is still ongoing, successfully demonstrated a significant achievement by showing power degradation of less than 15% - which we believe is a breakthrough for the micro fuel cell industry.
"Our test results are a clear indication of the technical progress we have made on performance metrics including life, degradation, temperature, and humidity levels which are required to bring products to market in the consumer electronics industry. To our knowledge, there are no other published results that match ours," said Jim Prueitt, Vice President of Engineering and Operations at MTI Micro. "With these results, we believe we continue to be a leader in the micro fuel cell industry as we work toward the commercialization of our Mobion® power sources."
