RER last week announced the winners in its 2011 Innovative Product Award competition. Winners were selected by a panel of industry judges in each of 13 categories. From those category winners, Multiquip’s H2LT hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered light tower was selected as the grand award winner.

The Multiquip Earth Smart H2LT light tower is environmentally friendly and pollution-free, allowing it to be operated indoors for up to 68 hours at a remarkable low noise level of only 43 decibels at 23 feet. The only noise created is from the audible portion of the cooling fan. Because of the load-following feature of the fuel cell, power is only produced as needed, providing an unmatched fuel efficiency compared to conventional combustion engines running at full load at all times.

“We broke a lot of ground with this concept,” said Torsten Erbel, vice president of product management, Multiquip Inc. “This is the only product of its kind currently on the market. All other light towers in rental channels are powered by diesel engines. There are a few solar-powered light towers entering the market, but they do not have the run duration, or the light output, of the Multiquip H2LT.”

As the first hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered light tower, the system features a fuel cell running on pure hydrogen, resulting in zero-emission electrical power. The fuel cell produces electricity for an advanced, power-saving Light Emitting Plasma lighting system and additional auxiliary power up to 2.5 kW, which allows additional equipment (such as drills, power tools, public address systems, or security metal detectors) to be powered by the unit at the same time the system is providing illumination.

“Most important, there is zero pollution generated, virtually no noise, and there are no dangerous exhaust gases produced,” said Erbel. “The environmental contribution is a savings of 9.1 metric tons per year of CO₂ per unit, saving, on average, 900 gallons of diesel fuel.”

The RER Innovative Product Award was established in 2003 to honor excellence in new product development in the equipment rental industry. This year the awards showcased the most innovative products introduced between Aug. 1, 2010 and July 31, 2011.

Winners in all 13 categories were:

• Compressors/Air tools - ZoneAir XATS 1020 portable compressor from Atlas Copco Specialty Rental
• Computer software - Dispatch Center with GPS Integration from Point-of-Rental Systems
• Concrete-working equipment - Lavina 30G Pro planetary-grinding, polishing and burnishing machine from Superabrasive Inc.
• Cutting/Drilling - MAB 1300 magnetic drill from CS Unitec
• Earthmoving equipment - JCB New Generation skid steers
• Generators/Welders - Honda Power Equipment EB6500 generator
• Lawn & garden equipment - ECO Drive Powered Carts from Granite Industries
• Lifts - JLG Industries’ 1500SJ boomlift
  Light towers – Multiquip’s H2LT hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered light tower
• Material handling - CaterpillarTH514 telehandler
• Miscellaneous - EQ Vapor Abrasive Blast Equipment from EcoQuip Inc.
• Power Tools - Hilti TE 3000-AVR breaker
• Technology enhancements - Point-of-Rental Systems’ Mobile Website Hosting

Multiquip’s H2LT light tower and each of the other category finalists will be featured in the December issue of RER magazine. Honorable mentions will be featured in the January and February 2012 issues of RER.

RER was established in 1957 to cover the rental industry in North America.