H2OME

Home / Uses / Is hydrogen power right for a remote weather station?

A weather station on its own does not need this

Remote weather stations run sensors, a logger and a radio link on tiny amounts of power. This page is honest about fit: a 15 kW system is far bigger than one station needs.

Tiny loads, big system

An automatic weather station's anemometer, rain gauge, temperature sensors, logger and telemetry radio together draw a trickle. They are usually powered by a small battery topped up by a small local source. A 15 kW hydrogen system with a 30 to 40 kWh battery is wildly oversized for that job, and recommending one would be bad advice. That is the honest starting point.

What it would keep running

  • Sensors and data logger
  • Telemetry radio
  • Shared hilltop radio equipment
  • Field hut lighting
  • Heated rain gauge in snow

When it starts to make sense

Weather instruments often share a site with other things: a hilltop with a radio repeater and a cell tower, a hut used by field staff, an airstrip office, or a research station. Once the site carries those heavier loads, a hydrogen system with weeks of storage begins to fit, and the weather station rides along as a small extra.

In those shared sites the station gains a supply that does not drop in a long storm, which is exactly when its readings are most useful to forecasters, flood managers and anyone planning a response downstream. Wind speed and rainfall from a hilltop during the peak of a storm are the readings that are hardest to replace afterwards.

How it works →
The H2OME loop: an electrolyser splits water into hydrogen, the hydrogen is stored in a tank for weeks, a fuel cell turns it into electricity for your home, and the water returns to the loop.

Siting near sensors

The fuel cell's by-product is water vapour, and the system has fans and an enclosure. It would need to sit far enough from humidity and temperature sensors that it does not skew their readings. That is a practical detail the pilot would plan for. Round trip efficiency is 30% or less, so it charges on wind or micro-hydro off the grid, or off-peak power where a line exists.

Questions

Should I buy this for a single weather station?

No. A lone station draws so little that a small battery and charger are the sensible answer. This system only makes sense where the station shares a site with heavier loads such as a repeater, a hut or an office.

Could the system affect weather readings?

It gives off some water vapour and warm air from its enclosure. Placed too close, that could affect humidity and temperature sensors. The pilot would site it at a sensible distance and downwind of the instruments where possible.

What about heated instruments in alpine areas?

Heated rain gauges and anti-icing for anemometers draw more than a basic station. Combined with other equipment on an alpine site, they can tip the balance toward a larger store of energy like hydrogen.

More in community places and remote sites

Elsewhere

Every use →

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