An imaging session can run for hours: a mount tracking a target, a cooled camera, a guide camera, a focuser, dew heaters on every optic and a laptop or mini PC running the sequence. A brief dip can reboot the computer, stop the mount and lose the alignment, and by the time it is sorted the target has set or cloud has rolled in. On a clear winter night, that hurts.
With the battery and 15 kW inverter in UPS mode, the mount and the imaging computer never see a dip, so a sequence started at dusk carries on until dawn. The fuel cell recharges the battery from stored hydrogen if the outage drags on. There is no engine, so no vibration travelling through the ground to the pier and no exhaust shimmering in front of the telescope.
How it works →
Equipment with status lights can be placed and shielded so it does not spoil dark adaptation or leak into a long exposure. The hydrogen store sits outside at 30 bar or less, and it can be sited away from the dome or roll-off roof. Charging happens on cheap night-rate power, wind or micro-hydro. Round-trip efficiency is 30% or less, so it is reliability for the observatory, not a cheaper way to run it.
It is designed not to see the drop at all. The battery and inverter run in UPS mode, so the mount and computer keep running and the imaging sequence carries on.
There is no engine. Pumps and fans run in the equipment, which is designed to sit outside and can be placed well away from the observatory pier and roof. Placement would be planned in the pilot.
On its own, yes. It is designed for a whole home at 15 kW continuous. The observatory is a small load that comes along with keeping the house running through outages.
Pilot installs go to people on this list first. Rural homes, farms and remote sites especially. No spam, no payment.