File this one under why-didn’t-I-think-of-that?

Moxia Energy, a renewable & portable energy company, have come up with a line of batteries that are rechargeable by USB called USBCell.  That is, they have a built in USB plug that will draw the power to recharge itself.

Currently there is only a AA version available, but they claim that they will soon have AAA, C & D sizes available, as well as 9V and phone batteries. 

The AA are a sealed Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery, and surprisingly, weigh about the same as a standard battery.  In fact at 22g they’re 6g lighter than the Energizer NH15-1700 rechargeable, but also 400mAh less capacity, but 1300 mAh should be fine to power most devices that require AAs.

They charge to 90%+ charge in about 5.3 hours on USB, and then pulse charge after that.  If you absolutely need it to be full, a standard 250ma NiMH battery charger can be used (~7 hours). 

If you buy from their website they have free delivery to Europe, USA, Canada, New Zealand and most importantly, Australia. There are a few local retailers carrying them in the UK, but not in Australia or anywhere else for that matter yet. Probably will be soon though.

They sell for £11.49 in the UK (about AU$28.70). You can get a standard pack of 4 rechargeable NiMH batteries here for about AU$16. So for now you’re looking at about AU$14 per USBCell battery as opposed to AU$4 for a normal rechargeable NiMH. I imagine this price will drop though as demand increases and more retailers pick them up.

[via Web Worker Daily]