The Reliability Of Fuel Cells

During Hurricane Sandy "many of the diesel, propane and battery cell phone tower backup generators were affected by the storm," but the more than 60 Altergy fuel cells that provided backup power to cell phone towers continued to operate without any issues. That is, zero downtime, 100% functionality, during the worst hurricane to hit the northeast United States. UTC Power, another fuel cell manufacturer, had 20 units supplying power during the hurricane and only one shut down due to "components beyond the fuel cell."

While both fuel cells and diesel generators can run for a long time, diesel engines have more moving parts and require more maintenance.