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GOING GREEN
A solar energy installation can provide
reliable power supply while reducing the
operational cost and maintenance.
Solar power has become even more
viable since the technology costs keep
decreasing and the amount of power
that the base station needs is reduced
If DC servers are used, it might be possible to use DC
power generated by the panels directly with batteries for
storage when required, without the use of an inverter from
DC to AC. This would reduce the initial and maintenance
cost of the PV system and conversion losses.
In past years, the telecommunications sector has shown
an increased interest in the use of solar technology to
generate power for base stations as an alternative to
diesel generators in rural sites where there’s no electricity
grid connection. A telecom base station is a wireless
communication station that comprises several antennas
mounted on a metallic tower and a house of electronics at
the base. The average base station can use between 1-6kW.
There are about seven million base stations worldwide
(Mobile world live blog, Sept 2017). Many of which
are built in remote and difficult to reach areas with
limited access to the grid. For stations localised in many
developing countries, even in areas that are connected to
the grid, the power supply can be unstable and expensive.
In these cases, the stations rely on diesel generators, which
require regular maintenance, are expensive to run and
cause pollution. A solar energy installation can provide
reliable power supply while reducing the operational cost
and maintenance. Solar power has become even more
viable since the technology costs keep decreasing and the
amount of power that the base station needs is reduced.
There are several types of designs for PV systems and all of
them can be used in telecom stations:
Grid-connected systems
These PV systems operate in parallel with the utility
grid and supply any excess power they might produce
to the grid. They’re the most common for domestic PV
www.networkseuropemagazine.com