H2OME

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The library as the warm room with Wi-Fi

When a district loses power, the library is one of the few places with computers, internet and a warm, quiet room. This page looks at keeping a rural library open through an outage.

Wi-Fi, computers and charging

In an outage, people come to the library to message family, file insurance claims, check road reports and charge their phones. The public computers, the router, the issuing system, a bank of charging points and the lighting are all modest loads. Heat pumps keeping the reading room warm are the largest. Together they sit well within 15 kW, even on a cold winter day.

What it would keep running

  • Public computers and printer
  • Router and public Wi-Fi
  • Phone and device charging
  • Reading room heat pumps
  • Lighting and issuing system

Quiet for a quiet place

A library is the last place for a diesel generator. The fuel cell has no engine, so the reading room stays quiet and nobody breathes exhaust on the way in. The battery and inverter give an instant switch-over, so public computers and the library system do not crash and lose someone's half-finished form.

Libraries also often run digital services such as printing, scanning and help with online forms. In a long outage, those services matter more than ever for people dealing with insurance, government support and employers, and having them available keeps the library useful rather than just open.

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.

Funded as resilience

The system charges on off-peak power and holds hydrogen at 30 bar or less for weeks. Round trip efficiency is 30% or less, so it will not lower the library's power bill. Councils weighing it would see it as part of a district's emergency planning, alongside the hall and the school, and the pilot would size it to real use.

Questions

Can the library stay online if the internet is down?

The system keeps the library's equipment powered. Whether the internet works depends on the wider network, including fibre cabinets and cell towers, which sit outside the building. A satellite link at the library would be one way around that.

Can people charge medical devices there?

Yes, as part of general charging. But a library is not a medical facility. Anyone relying on powered medical equipment should keep their power company's medically dependent registration and their own plan with their clinician.

Who would own and look after it?

For a council library, ownership and maintenance would be agreed with the council during a pilot. It has no engine and needs no fuel deliveries, and it shuts down and vents automatically if a sensor detects a problem.

More in community places and remote sites

Elsewhere

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