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FCC Requires Backup Power For 210K Cell Towers
1sockchuck alerts us to an article in Data Center Knowledge that explores ramifications from the FCC's decision a couple of months back to require backup power for cell sites and other parts of the telecom infrastructure. The new rule was prompted by wireless outages during Hurricane Katrina. There are more than 210,000 cell towers in the US, as well as 20,000 telecom central offices that will also need generators or batteries. Municipalities are bracing for disputes as carriers try to add generators or batteries to cell sites on rooftops or water towers. The rules will further boost demand in the market for generators, where there are already lengthy delivery backlogs for some models.
Maybe self powering solar paneled towers might be better. You'd be helping the environment as well as providing backup. And the height of these towers are perfect for a wind turbine + battery installation as well.
Even if it's not perfectly reliable, such a tower could be connected to the grid, and in the event of emergency, it'll be at the very least, intermittent,which is enough for some traffic to flow out for a very long time. With a battery/generator, you'd only have power, while reliable, for a limited amount of time.
I am currently in a power outage with NO Cellular Service (of any type)! This actually *sucks* and is inexcusable (considering what I pay!)
Those Damn Ice Storms here in the Central US (today and yesterday). (Generators/UPS are so so nice!)
Had Cell Service (with AT&T/Cingular) for about 3 hours following the outage (currently the largest single outage in my state's history)... but apparently the cell-site UPS batteries drained and the tower site did not have a generator...
I am going to ask for a prorated refund for my service plan (and they will legally HAVE TO give me that discount for my contracted service being out).
If EVERYONE called up their service providers and asked specifically for their prorated discount for service being out (on that given day)... I bet they would invest in UPS/Generator combos at the cell tower sites... -Z
EASY PICKINGS? In Texas and the nearby states like OK, KS, NM, etc, there are zillions of cell towers in the middle of nowhere. What an opportunity for thieves if these all had little generators nearby. I hope a better paradigm that what I describe is used.
NEW CASH COW? Its bad enough in Dallas where miles lights were out along the divided highways in the Summer of 2006 because thieves pulled out the connecting. This was bad in the summer of 2006 and its better now since openings have been welded shut. I can see generators being the new cash cow for thieves.
Thanks
Jim
Comment removed based on user account deletion
They should require some kind of ambient power generation also to be included. Solar cells are well understood perhaps but IIRC they do not have long lifetimes. So either some special long-lifetime solar cell, or something that uses environmental (humidity, electrostatic charge, temperature, gas, wind, etc.) gradients. It only has to be able to provide a very short window of time, perhaps only 30 min. per day, in which it can operate without any input from the power grid. If such a thing exists/can be developed it could be installed in really distant palces without infrastructure too, on an ad-hoc networking basis. I would feel a lot safer especially this would be useful for massive hurricaines and earthquakes, etc. I would not feel so safe if the backup batteries they talk about will run down in a few days, that's not enough time to restore all infrastructure as we have seen.
An option to receive microwave power from planes or from orbit would also be a very smart thing, a tiny rectenna (or just top surface of the battery) ought to do it.
Aww,,, Sniff, sniff. I co-manage 5 remote 2-way radio sites and, due to increased power needs, we have to upgrade the backup generator at one of our sites. Our primary electrical contractor quoted $38,000 for a COMPLETE installation: 35KW generator, transfer switch and installation.
And that's for ONE generator. The cellular folks will be buying them by the trainload and should be able to weasel a significant discount.
More crap! The electrical connections are the simplest part of the installation. Our contractor installs full-site transfer switches. They connect between the power meter and the disconnect switch or main fuse box. Two electricians do that part in under a day. The generator itself, OTOH, can take up to a week depending if there is a concrete base to be poured, fuel tank and EPA issues. Still, there's nothing new enough here to require "innovation".
I find this whole discusion hilarius.
Here in Jamaica one celphone company spnt a year advertising it's performance during huricane Ivan. What's worse is that the other major competitor had everything. Batterys, Generators etc... The mistake thy made was in the size fuel tanks at each site. They figured a couple days suply would be enogh.
With the number of Cellsites they have , this ment a small army roaming the country with botles of gasoline to keap the network at least partialy running.
And here are you yanks panicking over government esentialy saying to cell companies "Excersize some common sence or we will kick your bots"
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACCOLC -- The article says that in Britain, the emergency services (or anyone else important, e.g. doctors) can register their phone to be given priority during an emergency. Other users have to take it in turns to use the network.
I don't know if they have backup power though... I've never noticed either my mobile or the land line phone to be down during a power cut, but then there aren't many.
The only problem with diesel is that it goes bad after a while. We provide emergency power with three V12 diesel engines (providing roughly 300 kW at full capacity), but only keep about four days worth of diesel in the tank so we don't have to replace as much when it degrades. We do have special agreements with the gas companies, being a vital infrastructure site, though.
IANAS (scientist), but i believe it is microbial growth in the fuel that ruins it.
Electromechanical Batteries or EMB or Flywheel Batteries by their old name. These have the highest power density of any energy storage system. They are so reliable they can be buried or sent into space. They can hole huge amounts of power. They can be recharged very quickly. They do not burst into fire. They are not hazardous.
Specific Power EMB (5-10 kW/kg) Lead Acid (0.1-0.5 kW/kg)
Energy Recovery EMB (90%-95%) Lead Acid (60%-70%)
Specific Energy EMB (100 Wh/kg) Lead Acid (30-35 Wh/kg)
Service Lifetime EMB (>10 years) Lead Acid (3-5 years)
Self Discharge Time EMB (Weeks to months) Lead Acid (variable)
Hazardous Chemicals EMB (none) Lead Acid (Lead, Sulfur, & Acid)
"A new look at an Old Idea the Electromechanical Battery" Science and Technology Review April 1996 by
Dangerous EMB (possibly in massive physical impact) Lead Acid (High fire danger)
Caterpillar and Beacon power already sell off the shelf UPS based on EMB for anything up to a whole grid substation. These are the answer to balancing the output of solar and wind power as well, far better than ice batteries or lead acid. These are the answer to solving our reliability problems with the national power grid (if each substation could self power for even a few 1/10s of a second you can reroute the grid. In fact these are even a possible answer to batteries for cars thanks to new fiber based flywheels instead of steel. There is literally no sound reason to use Lead acid to backup a data center, a telephone switch, or a cell tower anymore.
The FCC should demand that the power backup meets a certain level of reliability and power density within a top percentile of the most cost effective solution so that people don't use old outdated technology just because it is a system that they are accustomed to.