Could Your Back-Up Power Leave You in the Dark?

Save money, gain reliability, and increase runtimes by replacing your outmoded back-up power with fuel cells.

During severe weather events, power often fails. Emergency services personnel and citizens expect wireless communications to be reliable. Back-up batteries only buy you a few minutes to a few hours of runtime. A diesel generator gets you more time, but generators running for long periods of time are prone to breakdowns—and the noise drives neighbors crazy. Plus, they need a lot of maintenance just to ensure they’ll work in the first place.

Your back-up power shouldn’t need back up.

“The old methods served a purpose. But with the advances in technology, fuel cells are a better choice,” explains Eric Mettler, President and CEO of Altergy®. He says the old options still get installed, though, because users just don’t know how much better fuel cells are.

How fuel cells work—and why they’re better

Fuel cells generate power through a catalytic reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. Ions are exchanged between hydrogen fuel and oxygen from the air. The result is DC current. They keep working because the process is a natural catalytic reaction. There are no moving parts to fail.

1.     99.999% Reliability: Altergy’s fuel cells meet stringent standards. They’ve powered through Hurricane Sandy and other severe weather events around the world when other back-up power sources failed.
2.     Up to 50% Lower Cost of Ownership: Batteries degrade and need replacing. Generators require consistent maintenance. Both are expensive to install. Fuel cells have the lowest TCO thanks to low upfront costs and minimal maintenance needs.
3.     32 Million Hours Logged: Fuel cells start automatically and easily run for hours. With available refueling, they can run for days on end with no maintenance.
4.     Compact, Lightweight and Safe: Small cabinets fit neatly into compounds, with no setbacks needed. You can install your equipment in a smaller lease footprint. Altergy’s fuel cells are perfect for rooftops and other weight-sensitive installations.
5.     Zero Emissions: Diesel is dirty and loud. Batteries can leak and disposal is hazardous. Fuel cells are clean. There’s no combustion and almost no noise.

Improving fuel cells for telecom and other applications

Altergy has been shaping the fuel cell industry for years. It created a better process to produce fuel cells using rugged and low-cost materials.

“It’s true that early on, fuel cells were too delicate and too expensive,” Mettler says. “But with our patented design and our processing assembly, we have the lowest cost, most reliable, and most scalable and rugged fuel cell solutions available.”

Altergy’s Freedom Power TechnologyTM has been installed on thousands of sites over the past decade. “By every metric, they perform better than diesel generators and batteries,” explained Mettler.

Altergy’s Freedom Power fuel cell systems integrate easily with existing power equipment and can be installed at a low cost in many environments, both existing and planned.

Altergy’s fuel cells already meet expected regulatory changes for emissions and runtimes. It’s only a matter of time before fuel cells become the new status quo.

Don’t get left in the dark

Join the other tower owners who have started saving money and reducing emissions with reliable fuel cells.

Discover how Altergy’s Freedom Power can increase your runtimes, improve your budget, and help keep your customers connected at www.altergy.com.

Published September 25, 2019