Rechargeable batteries you recharge on your PC's USB ports
by Michael Smith
Maybe I should add that these were not sent to me for review from the manufacturers or one or the other green vendor; they were picked up as a freebie, like the Eco-Button that time and which I also reviewed, on a trade fair I visited on behalf of the Green (Living) Review.
That shall not stop me, however, from reviewing those batteries for the readers of this journal – rather the opposite. In addition to those there shall be another couple of reviews be following, of some products and also a book, that we acquired in similar circumstances.
So, now first of let's have a look at the technical stuff for those batteries:
The battery type is rechargeable AA NiMH battery at 1.2v 1300mah with a built in intelligent charger and the charge by powered USB socket of PC or laptop
The battery chemistry is NiMH, that is to say, Nickel Metal Hyrdride. The batteries are 90%+ Charged after 5 Hours by powered USB and are also rechargeable by approved NiMH charger at 250ma for 7 Hours. I found that after about 7 hours on a USB they are also fully charged.
The retail unit is AA Batteries - 2 cell pack and the code for it is MXAA02. The price for UK is £10.99
Originally, it would appear that the batteries were sold in what I would refer to as blister pack but now they appear to come, for thus is how I got them, in just a cardboard carton with a cut out in the front and no plastic window or blister in sight. Nice to see this move.
After receiving those batteries I had to go out that evening to attend a press event in London. So, before I left from home I set the PC to run a deep systems anti-virus scan and at the same time took the opportunity to charge the USB Cells. Those were connected to the desktop PC via hubs and in less that seven hours, give or take a couple of minutes, they were fully charged and, from what I have seen so far, they perform very well and are of the same power grade as “normal” high grade AA batteries.
While it could be said that gadgets such as those may not be directly “green” - and I must say that only the tops are in that color – they do, definitely, fall under the category as they, during their lifetime and use, replace quite a number of traditional batteries; the kind that is not good for the environment.
Having said that I am aware that the USB Cells, like any other electronic gadget, must be recycled in a special way rather than going into the ordinary refuse. I do hope though, on the other hand, that they will not have to go there all that soon.
Traditional alkaline batteries = toxic landfill after one use
Each year, 15 billion batteries are made and disposed of which is the equivalent to a column of batteries to the moon and back.
USB CELL is, more than likely, the ultimate environmentally-friendly battery, though in itself, I know it is still a battery which is, though I am no scientist, made of some nasty materials still. The batteries are tested, so Moixa say, up to 500 charge cycles to guarantee optimum reusable performance.
In the UK, 680 million batteries are bought each year. The average household uses 21 batteries per year. This creates an estimated 19,000 tonnes of general purpose batteries waste alone, of which less than,1000 tonnes are recycled.
I don't know about the average household but I seem to be coming close, on my own, to such amount of battery usage myself.
Normal alkaline batteries are mainly disposed into landfill sites, which create significant toxic waste and environmental issues. As the battery casing corrodes, toxic metals such as mercury, cadmium and lead are released into the environment, contaminating soil and water, which in turn could cause serious health problems in the future. The world's oceans are already beginning to show traces of cadmium which can be toxic to aquatic invertebrates and can accumulate in fish, and makes them unfit for human consumption. Another common compound used in batteries is nickel-cadmium, which is a known human carcinogen. There is also a significant carbon expenditure associated with the metal extraction, manufacture, transport, packaging, storage and retailing of disposable batteries that are rubbish after a single use.
So, rechargeable is the way to go is and when we have to use batteries – and there are now already devices and gadgets that do not need batteries, per se, although some still use them internally as a means to store the energy generated by wind-up mechanisms and such, while some store the charge in slow-discharge capacitors – and those batteries such as the USB Cell that can be charged on USB sockets rather than needing to use a specific charger might be a great way to go.
My set of USB Cells is ready and waiting to go, one after the other, into a patrol flashlight once its current battery – yes, it only uses one AA cell – has been used up and then I shall bring the reader a little “in use” review as well some time in the future.
Some might consider the price of around £11 for a set of two rechargeable batteries a little steep but if the last as they are advertised, that is to say for at least 500 recharge cycles then they would well pay for themselves many times over.
© M Smith (Veshengro), November 2008
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