The most common telecommunications back-up system in use today is a battery bank and a diesel power generator. Yet recent events, such as the 2003 blackout and Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed these systems. Generators ran out of fuel and battery back-up systems could not be recharged, severely impacting the use of wireless equipment by emergency responders.
As a result, major telecommunications companies are turning to fuel cells for their grid-independent power, up to 99.999% high reliability, low emissions, and ability to provide long-running primary or back-up power for telecom switch nodes, cell towers and other electronic systems that require reliable, quiet, on-site, remote-monitored, direct DC power.
With telecommunications sites rapidly expanding worldwide, extended-run fuel cell solutions are proving to be an economically viable option for global telecommunications companies as well as supplemental or emergency power applications.