Press Release

Fuel Cells Power Up

Fuel cells are creating a lot of fanfare. But is it warranted? While some say that those hydrogen-oriented devices and the clean byproducts they release are not inevitable, others say that they are playing key roles now that will only grow.

Hydrogen, a carrier of energy, has many applications. It can be used to fuel vehicles, power stations and heavy equipment. One of most burgeoning niches is that of back-up power whereby companies that provide essential services can ill-afford a loss of service and the subsequent revenues. Telecommunications enterprises, for instance, have been pushed by federal regulators and customers alike to beef up their operations and particularly after some natural disasters knocked out services for extended periods.

The telecommunications industry is currently spending $2 billion to provide back-up power to its cell towers. The fuel cell industry says that its technology is best in such cases, noting that it is more durable than batteries and cleaner and less noisy than diesel engines.

While the upfront costs associated with fuel cells are more, the industry says that they are ultimately more cost effective because they need less maintenance and provide greater reliability. Fuel cell maker Ballard says cell towers generally need only 20 hours of back-up service a year - something that fuel cells have shown they can effectively accomplish. This success, it says, comes alongside some recent federal regulations that require telecommunications' companies to maintain at least 8 hours of back-up power at cell towers and 24 hours at their centralized stations.

Every cell site has a base station that converts radio waves into a signal. And each one of those of sites has an electrical grid connection. Fuel cells, in essence, monitor this power from the grid. If power fades, it kicks on instantaneously and uses a reservoir of compressed hydrogen. While it takes more energy to create the hydrogen than it produces, the fuel cell industry says that the amount of power required by back-up applications is so small that it is economical to use the technology.

Take Sprint, which has deployed 200 hydrogen fuel cells to help maintain its wireless service in the event of outages: Fuel cells, it says, are a more optimal choice than lead-acid batteries and 'noisy' diesel generators, noting they run on hydrogen gas and produce electricity through an electrochemical reaction. The only byproducts of the process are water and heat, and they are quiet.
'Fuel cells have a perfect application there,' says Tony Cochrane, director of back-up power for Ballard. 'They are longer lasting than batteries and can be sited more easily than diesel generators. We try to educate people on the amount of hydrogen they can store. Because it is a fairly new type of fuel, it requires some education on how to do this so that we do not have to get special approval for every installation.'