Plug Power tests technology as a backup power source for a cellular tower
By LARRY RULISON, Business writer First published: Friday, January 20, 2006
COLONIE -- On a wooded hill behind its Latham headquarters and manufacturing plant, Plug Power Inc. is quietly testing a concept that it hopes the wireless phone industry adopts in a big way. In a first for the Capital Region, the company is providing backup power to a cellular phone tower with its GenCore fuel-cell system. The company is a partner with a local consultant to the wireless industry, Joe Ross, who built the 100-foot tower believing he could attract cellphone companies to put their radio antennas there.
In the fall, Sprint PCS became the first cellphone company to do so, and Ross is in the process of enlisting others. Plug has not publicized the tower's existence, though it did need local and federal government approvals for the structure. A typical cellphone tower costs about $200,000 to build, Ross said.
"They all like to have backup power in the area if the grid goes down," said Ross, who helps cellphone companies erect cell towers throughout the Northeast. This is the first tower he has owned.
Besides paying rent to Ross, companies that put equipment on the tower face one important condition: They must use Plug's GenCore system as a backup power source to their typical battery backup system. Plug is providing the system for free, and it charges Ross a nominal fee to use the land. In return, Plug gets to develop its technology in a real-world situation while polishing its sales and marketing of the product.
David Rollins, market engagement manager for Plug, said cellphone companies will use batteries for backup, but they never know just how much power they have available. That is why cellphone companies like to have backup power to the batteries, he said. Eventually, Plug would like to market its system as the primary backup.
"It's a love-hate relationship with batteries," Rollins said. "They've got to be there, but they just don't know how much they've got."
Cellphone companies use radio antennas to broaden and strengthen the coverage areas of their networks in what are called cell sites. These antennas are typically placed on cellphone towers or on existing structures such as water towers or church steeples. However, they also need power and typically get electricity from the grid.
If the electric grid goes down, such as during a large storm or during a blackout, the cell sites use backup power systems such as batteries or generators.
John O'Malley, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless, said his company typically has batteries and in some cases also a generator at its cell sites. It will bring mobile generators to sites as needed during outages.
O'Malley said the company has looked into the use of fuel-cell technology but hasn't adopted it. "At this point, it's cost-prohibitive to use it," he said.
Battery systems will typically last only a few hours, and generators use fossil fuels such as diesel that emit greenhouse gases known to cause global warming.
Plug manufactures fuel cells that run on hydrogen. They emit only water as a byproduct and therefore are considered environmentally friendly.
Plug has been targeting the telecommunications industry, including the cellphone industry, with its GenCore product for use for backup power. The system costs between $20,000 and $45,000.
Plug has more than 100 GenCore systems in use by customers in various industries.
But the company has yet to turn a profit. It posted a loss of $46 million in 2004 on $16 million in total revenue, so the sale of more of the systems -- including to the cellphone industry -- is key to its growth. The cell tower test site will help drive sales, said Plug spokeswoman Cynthia Mahoney White. "The more systems we have running in the applications they are intended to run, the better," she said.
Larry Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at lrulison@timesunion.com.
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