Renewable Energy Options for Telecom Sector

During the current decade, there has been an exponential growth in the telecom sector, especially in wireless. Telecom users also view the telephone as not only a tool for communication, but also a tool to impart education and entertainment. The mobile network has become a forum to promote common interests, ideas and goals. There is an understanding that everybody should have the opportunity to connect with the world beyond their geographical boundaries.

There are about 2 billion wireless subscribers in the world. China is the largest and India is the second largest, followed by the U.S. There are about 600 million mobile users in India. There is a global digital divide and telephony has not so far reached all rural areas. To sustain and accelerate it further, there is a need to encourage service providers to view the rural markets as an opportunity for sustainable revenues.

Need for Alternative Energy Opportunity for Telecom Sector

In a number of villages in India and around the world, electricity is either not available or is available only in limited quantities. As a result, even if battery backup is provided for the Base Transceiver Station (BTS ), the batteries do not get fully charged. Further, due to frequent interruptions in the power supply, the life of these batteries get shortened, which in turn increases the operational cost to run services in rural areas. Unavailability of reliable power in semi-urban, rural and remote areas increases operational costs further because sufficient backup systems have to be maintained.

Maintenance costs of networks in rural areas are high compared to urban areas, because of several factors such as poor transportation systems, difficulty in supply of spare parts and non-availability of skilled manpower. Due to lack of reliable power in rural areas, there has been a substantial increase in the usage of diesel for running engine alternators to keep telecom exchanges, transmission equipment and BTS s up and running. This increases costs substantially.

There is high diesel consumption for operations of towers. Taking the example of India, there are more than 250,000 cell phone towers, which consume about 530 million gallons of diesel per month. The carbon emissions from the diesel are 22.2 pounds/gallon. Total carbon emissions from cell phone towers are 11.76 billion pounds or 5.3 million tons annually. The cost of diesel every year is INR 6,400 Crore.

Each tower consumes an average 5 kilowatts of power and the consumption increases with the number of telecom operators using the tower. For any generator which runs 10-12 hours a day, the actual cost of ownership is six times more than the cost of the generator. India is expected to have 1 billion mobile phone subscribers by 2015, which would mean about 250,000 more mobile towers. That, in turn, would double the carbon emissions saved. Even if solar panels supply a part of the total power required, it would still save substantial amounts of money, fuel and carbon emissions.

Solar and Wind Energy for Powering Telecom Towers

In spreading the reach of telecommunications in remote areas, renewable energy should be used to power relay towers in remote areas. By replacing diesel generators with solar panels in cell phone towers, more than 5 million tons of carbon emissions could be prevented from entering the atmosphere.

Telecom Operators have the optimum conditions for operation of solar devices. In India, the state of Gujarat has been a front-runner in the use of solar power. Recently, the Gujarat government, in a major climate initiative, came up with a solar power generation policy. As per the policy, those willing to set up solar photovoltaic and solar thermal projects in the state will get a number of concessions through this policy. There is a need to adopt a policy of developing solar power as a dominant component of the renewable energy mix, since being a densely populated region in the sunny tropical belt; the subcontinent has the ideal combination of both high solar insulation and a big potential consumer base .

Solar is a clean and effective way of harnessing energy. Also, the maintenance cost for the operation of solar equipment is comparatively lower as compared to diesel generators operated BTS towers. Solar generators have no carbon emissions and also help in preserving the environment for sustaining life on earth. It reduces global warming, as carbon emissions are null in solar devices. The manpower needed for the operation and maintenance for solar equipment do not require extra skill.

The move from diesel to solar and other alternate sources of energy will result in a reduction of 5 million tons of CO2 emissions in India as well as a savings of $1.4 billion in operating expenses for telecom tower companies. Tower cost comprises 30 percent of operating expenses for a company. It makes sense especially in rural and semi-urban areas where an electricity supply is not reliable. Even if the saving is 5 percent of operating expenses, it would make a huge difference.

The telecom majors have started operating mobile repeater and relay stations, which harness solar and wind energy with the wind turbines foisted on the telecom towers. The hybrid systems, involving solar photovoltaic systems and wind energy installations for this application assure uninterrupted supply of 2.8 kilowatts of power daily. A master control installed at the site acts as a voltage stabilizer, while a generator has been kept as a back-up for charging the batteries in case of emergency.

The Way Forward

Though the diesel generators are the lifelines of telecom towers, they contribute to significant carbon emissions. Going green and pushing the use of alternative energy sources like solar, wind and biofuel is the need of the hour; the government should provide high subsidies to help the telecoms taking this step, quickly and easily. Going solar is the way forward.