Feb 1, 2010 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson (donald.jackson@penton.com)

Fuel-cell and renewable-energy advances are providing more options for powering remote sites

“With these microcells, the power demand is so much smaller that logistically, this all becomes so much more doable,” he said. “And, of course, in the intervening years, the technology has gotten so much more efficient than back in 2001, when we first looked at doing this.”

Indeed, the power design proposed by Harris for sites such as the one in Clinton County is a hybrid solution, with solar and/or wind energy being leveraged to the fullest extent. The hydrogen fuel-cell solution is used to recharge the large battery pack at the site when the renewable-energy sources do not produce enough energy — for instance, when several days of overcast weather results in the solar panels not generating much electricity.

The ability to combine the solar and wind systems with the hydrogen fuel cell component is giving Pennsylvania officials confidence that the microcell site will remain powered at all times.

“Since the solar ‘fuel’ — if you will — is free, and the wind fuel is free, you want to draw down on those sources to the greatest extent that you can and then allow the hydrogen portion of the solution to contribute when the other two aren't,” Parcels said. “[Solar and wind sources] may not eliminate the hydrogen cell, but [they] greatly increase your time span between having to refuel, which is really the critical element for us, because we have to assume that we can't get up there once per month during the winter to refuel the hydrogen.”

With a 16-cylinder hydrogen pack, a Pennsylvania microcell site should be able to operate off the fuel cell for at least a couple of weeks after the solar, wind and battery sources have been exhausted, according to officials. Buoyed by the typical amount of power generated from the renewable-energy sources, a microcell site may only need to have its hydrogen supply replenished every six to eight months, at a cost of about $2,200 per year for the hydrogen and for the cylinder rental, Parcels said.

Other advantages of the integrated Harris power solution are that it can be monitored and controlled remotely; that fuel cells are much quieter than internal-combustion generators; and that maintenance is much simpler than with a generator, Struhar said.

“You don't have to have a generator mechanic go out and work on it,” he said. “We can have one of our standard field techs who normally works on RF do it.”

Indeed, the fuel-cell solution is “very plug and play,” said Joe Blanchard, vice president of product management and business development for ReliOn, the fuel-cell subcontractor used by Harris. In addition, government data indicate that ReliOn's system provides greater reliability and availability than traditional generators, he said.

But fuel cells may not be the best choice for every scenario, Blanchard said.

“If you only want two hours of backup power for your site, batteries will almost always be the right solution,” he said. “When you get to six to eight hours and beyond, [fuel cells] compare favorably to batteries. If you're looking at higher cycle times or very long durations, then the [generators] sometimes will look better, but it depends on fuel logistics.”

Blanchard acknowledged that the fuel-cell industry still is maturing, so hydrogen suppliers are not nearly as numerous as their propane counterparts. However, with more than 2,500 outlets available nationwide, most industrial-grade users can be serviced without adding significant costs, he said.

One stigma the fuel-cell industry encounters is that hydrogen is inherently dangerous — a notion stemming primarily from the infamous images of the 1937 disaster when the hydrogen-filled dirigible Hindenburg exploded in a giant fire ball. Although hydrogen is a flammable gas, such fears are largely unfounded, Blanchard said.

“There are a lot of home tinkerers that have oxy-settling welders, and there are a lot of us who have propane barbecues, and both of those scenarios are far worse than a cylinder of hydrogen in terms of safety and potential hazard,” he said. “Most people don't think anything of checking for leaks when they change the propane tanks on their grills, and that could take their house down. If a cylinder of hydrogen [leaks], it looks like a blow torch — it's a concentrated heat, but it's basically fine and probably will blow itself out.”

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