Currently (pre-1.6), energy cells cannot transfer to one another without interconnecting conduits.
Also, even when that feature is implemented come 1.6, both systems will be identical in performance because TE networks have no loss once the energy is in the system. Ever since 1.5, you only have loss once, the moment you transfer energy into the system (into a conduit or into an energy cell). Once it is in the system, it can travel through as many cells and conduits as it wants without loss. Energy tesseracts are the one exception, they always have a significant loss.
If you have quick questions like that, try
this thread - it gets stalked by many knowledgeable people aroudn the clock.
