Powering Indian Telecom Towers Environmental Sciences Essay

solar zero has proven to be a dep canable and economical method of bureauing telecommunicationmunication formations in topographic points where achieveed electricity is un visible(prenominal) or impractical. It provides an first-class beginning of clean, dependable situation to maintain un-interrupted forefinger supply to telecom rears. This paper contains a shortened description of Indian telecom mainstays and photovoltaic ( PV ) mobile ph onenesss apply in telecommunication administrations. Because solar strength systems argon lively and constitute effectual, the demand for solar federal agency in telecommunications will go on to turn.Key Words-insolation, irradiance, photovoltaic, solar cell, solar energyIntroductionIndia is now in the 2nd largest of the Global telecom food markets and is communicate to get the better of mainland China. Our state presently has somewhat 400,000 telecom reigns well-nigh the land and poised to increase to 450,000 hulks oer the hobby 2 emeritus(a) ages ( 2 ) . A big part of these towers is non connected to the electricity storage-battery grid or does non hold entree to dependable electricity connoting they father to send in backup federal agency systems in order to actuate with expose breaks. diesel engine motor Generators have been the pick of telecom operators despite their high C imprint. telecommunication Towers be estimation to fire 2 Billion Liters of diesel ( rough 500 zillion barrels ) yearly at a cost of 10000 crores. On an norm, about 260,000 is being spent yearly to exile through the Diesel demands of a individual telecom tower. These high stimulus cost be postures result in high pollution. While the authorities has been seeking to change over these towers to re parvenueable energy mannikins, just about of the tower operators have been really slow to implement this alteration. The renewable energy ministry had asked telecom companies to cut raven their dependence on con ventional displaces and see options for partly world powering telecom towers. While some tower Godheads are looking at tight natural gas and piped natural gas to power towers, Indus Towers, the largest with over 1 lakh towers in India, planned to cat up 2,500 solar towers by terminal of this twelvemonth. Viom Networks, which operates oft than 38,000 towers across India, plans to run more than one-quarter of this haoma on alternate energy within the following two old ages. It plans to run 2,000 towers on solar power completely by 2013. For the GSM Technology, it requires an norm of 6 BTS to run one tower. Each shelter has two ( 1.5 long ton ) air conditioners for the cardinal care of the temperature for the shelter s electronic systems. The DG set is truely 15 kVA capacity, which consumes an norm of 3 liters of Diesel per hr 4 .Each tower requires energy from 1000 W to 3000 W ( older installing consumes more power as comparison to new one because of expert promotion ) . E ach 1000 W consequences in the 22 tonnes/hr of advance of CO2 if running on the commonwealth electricity and in instance of the gensets this figure is many times more. assuming mean power ingestion of each tower is 1200 W so entire CO2 emanation is 105.6 lakh metric ton per hr by all these towers if we assume that all are running on province electricity. In India about 70 % telecom towers are in artless countries. Soon 40 % power demands are met by grid electricity and 60 % by Diesel generators 2 . The Diesel generators are of 10-15 KVA capacity and devour about 3 litres of Diesel per hr and figure out forth 2.63 kilogram of CO2 per litre. For every kWh of grid electricity consumed, 0.84 Kg of CO2 is emitted. Entire CO2 emanation is some 5 one k thousand tones of CO2 due to diesel ingestion and around 8 million dozenss due to power grid per annum. The move from Diesel to solar and otherwise alternate beginnings of energy will ensue in a devolve of 5 million dozenss of CO2 emanations every bit good as a nest eggs of immense sum in operational disbursals for telecom tower companies. Move to renewable energy beginnings can exact forth 1000000s of C credits that could countervail the opex on their towers. Therefore by replacing diesel generators with solar panels in cell forebode towers, more than 5 million dozenss of C emanations could be prevented from come ining the ambiance and cut down the opex of telecom towers. India has slightly 500 million winding phone endorsers, more than even the population of any state except China India is expected to hold one trillion mobile phone endorsers by 2015 which would intend about 250,000 more erratic towers which, in bend, would duplicate the C emanations. Even if the solar panels supply a atom of the entire power required, it would still salvage significant sums of money, fuel and C emanations.Electricity Generation through Solar CellsIn India the one-year solar radiation is about 5 kWh/ sq thousand per twenty-four time of days with about 1500-2000 sun-shine hours per twelvemonth. Solar radiations represent the Earth s virtually abundant energy beginning. The perennial beginning of solar energy provides innumerable supply, has no negative impact on the environment. The solar photovoltaic ( PV ) modules switch over solar radiation from the sunniness into electrical energy in the signifier of call for current ( DC ) . Converting solar energy into electricity is the say to the mounting power jobs in telecom towers peculiarly in the rude countries. PV or solar cells are semiconductor devices that convert sunlight into direct current electricity ( fig.1 ) . When light pho scads of sufficient energy work stop consonant a solar cell, they knock negatrons free in the silicon crystallizing construction, coercing them through an external circuit and so returning them to the other side of the solar cell to get down the procedure all over once more.Fig. 1. ( a ) photovoltaic conseq uence ( B ) how a PV cell plants ( degree Celsius ) a crystalline Si panelThe electromotive force end product from a individual crystalline solar cell is about 0.5 V with an amperage end product that is straight relative to the cell s surface country ( about 7 amperes for a 6-inch-square multi crystalline solar cell ) . Typically, 30 to 36 cells are wired in series ( + to ) in each solar faculty. This produces a solar faculty with a 12-volt nominal end product ( 17 Vs at peak power ) that can so be wired in series and/or parallel with other solar faculties to organize a complete solar array. Solar cells used in telecom towers are shown in Fig 2. Solar cell is cosmopolitan and will work virtually anywhere nevertheless, some locations are evidently more suited than others. Irradiance is a mistreat of the Sun s power available at the Earth s surface, with power peaking at about 1,000 Wattss per square metre ( W/m2 ) . With typical crystalline solar cell efficiencies about 14 to 16 per centum, approximately 140 to 160 Wattss can be generated per square metre of solar cells placed in full Sun. Insolation, which is a step of the available energy from the Sun, is expressed in footings of full Sun hours ( i.e. , 4 full Sun hours = 4 hours of sunshine at an irradiance degree of 1,000 W/m2 ) 1 .Fig.2 Solar cells used in telecom tower for United Nations interrupted power supply.Tele DensityTelephone introduced in India in 1882. The entire figure of telephones in the state stands at 885.99 million, while the overall tele-density has increased to 73.97 % and the entire Numberss of nomadic phone endorsers have reached 851.70 million as of June 2011. Himachal Pradesh has become the first province in India to accomplish 100 per cent tele-density. The province has about sevensome million nomadic clients 5 . The province population is 6.8 million as per the Census 2011 much lower than the nomadic subscriber population of seven million. While the urban tele denseness reached 150.67 per cent, the rural tele denseness reached 32.11per cent. Experts have pointed out that the grounds for this quick growing are lowest call rates, big market pocketbook due to bigger population, well ample untapped market and robust economic growing of the state. In add-on factors like rapid technological acceptance, better inspection and repair criterions, advanced merchandise offerings and competitory pricing amongst the service suppliers has similarly tind in a major manner to increase the tele-density of the state.Energy care in telecom TowersA Telecom tower enables telecom operators to supply meshing connexion to mobile users.Fig. 3 Standard Telecom SystemTelecom being an indispensable service requires the web to be ever available. In order to accomplish this, the tower substructure that has 2 operators uses 6-8 kilowatt ( avg. ) of electricity per hr ( Fig.3 ) . Energy demands of a telecom tower in India are presently met throughElectricity MainsDiesel G enerator andUPS / Battery RacksDiesel inlet in Telecom Towers and Environmental PollutionThe telecom operator spends 3 billion ( USD 67.42 million ) every month towards running Diesel generators in out-of-town locations where grid base power is limited. This translates to an operational energy disbursal of around 65 billion yearly to run web towers, particularly in off-grid locations ( 4 ) . Since, Electricity supply is fickle and is non available through out the twenty-four hours in many separate, Diesel Generators ( DG ) are used to power the telecom web, as a dorsum up for power supply.DG s are operational for 15-20 hours ( avg. ) in rural countries and 3- 7 hours in urban countries ( postpone 1 ) seting a emphasis on the environment by manner of C emanations and noise pollution sensation liter of Diesel emits 2.63 kilogram of CO2 emanations.Hence telecom webs contribute to carbon emanations and rambling heating.Table 1 bureau Availability at Tower SitesGrid Power Availabili ty Cell Sites10 % &038 gt 20 hour primarily metro metropoliss of Mumbai, Kolkota,Chennai, some metropoliss of Gujarat, State ofChattisgarh, some metropoliss of Punjab20 % 16-20 hour Covers most other major metropoliss and towns in theremainder of the state30 % 12-16 hour All semi-urban and little urban towns in allprovinces25 % 8-12 hour Mostly rural countries15 % &038 lt 8 hour Mostly parts of Bihar and some towns ofAssam, NE provinces, UP and J &038 A KThe Power ProblemA speedy analysis of telecom web runing costs indicates power and fuel are the primary in operation(p) costs, consisting over 30 % of entire operating cost. This is because grid power ( Electricity Board or EB power ) is extremely undependable and in a batch of instances, non available in rural countries. BTS sites require changeless and uninterrupted power for the estimable operation of the web. As a consequence, BTS sites have hired onsite Diesel generators to every supply backup or primary power in the absence seizure of EB power. Uninterrupted operation is achieved through a battery bank. The typical constellation of DG sets is 10-15 KVA with a fuel burn rate of 2-3 liters per hr ( depending on full or half load operations ) . Assuming seven hours of DG operations in urban countries and 20 hours in rural countries, estimated use of Diesel fuel is 2-4 billion liters per twelvemonth across the 400,000 towers in India. Fuel demand is increasing with each new tower. India, with its first-class irradiance, has the obtain to work Photovoltaic ( PV ) solar power to run into this challenge of onsite power coevals. Coupled with a battery backup, PV systems are a feasible and elicit option to cut down the power cost and entire operating outgo ( OPEX ) , thereby supplying a sustainable and dependable strategic solution to the fuel job. The operating cost of Diesel and solar PV system is shown in Table-2 which shows that solar PV system is economical ( 14.08/kWh ) than Diesel DG sets ( 1 6.19/kWh ) and besides eco friendly and can market their C recognition to cut down farther the opex of the telecom tower.Table 2. Comparative analysis of solar PV and diesel generators ( DG ) uses in telecom tower.Strictly DG setsStrictly PV systemAnnual ingestion of 15 kVA DG sets 3 litres/h, liters26280Assumed capacity, Wp150004 % shut down period i.e.for 96 % operation, liters25229Annual sunshine hours1650kWh produce 3.5 kWh/litre88301.510 twelvemonth output, kWp247500Diesel cost 42/litre,1059618Capital investing 200/Wp,30,00,000Cost of railroad car etc,300000Operating cost, ( including depreciation, involvement, care ) , /10 old ages49,80,000Operating cost ( including depreciation, involvement, admit/rent, care ) , /year1429918Operating cost/kWh,16.19Operating cost/kWh,20.12 later on 30 % subsidy14.08Telecommunication Companies and Their RoleECIndia has the fastest turning telecom web in the universe with its high population and development potency. India s public sector te lecom phoner BSNL ( 11.41 % ) is the seventh largest telecom company in universe. The entry of new participants into the telecom industry has made challenger intense, in peculiar over the last four old ages. The controlling participants in the market presently include Bharti-Airtel ( 20.09 per cent of the Indian market ) , Reliance Communications ( 16.70 % ) , Vodafone ( 16.54 % ) , Tata Tele Services ( 11.08 % ) , Idea ( 10.97 % ) and Aircel ( 6.76 % ) ( Table 3 ) .Table 3. Share of telecom companies in Indian market and stairss taken to utilize renewablesCompaniesMarket portion, %Stairss taken for usage renewable energy in teletowersBharati Airtel20.09Targeted for solarizing 2000 towers by 2010-11. No latest information on accomplishment.Reliance Communication16.70Stairss taken to utilize renewable to cut down opex by 50-60 %Vodafone16.5423 % of its planetary operation by renewablesBSNL11.41Taken pilot childbeds under Jawharlal Nehru Solar representation for solarizing tower s.Tata Teleservices Ltd11.08Deployed 31 cell sites powered by solar power and fuel cells.Idea Cellular10.97Solar-DG loanblend in some nomadic towersAircel6.76No information availableStel0.34Cringle0.39Eti Salat0.08HFCL0.18Uninor2.73Videcon0.83MTNL0.69Siestema1.21Beginning Telephone restrictive Authority of India ( as on 28th Feb, 2011 )As per the directives of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, some companies have taken inaugural stairss to utilize renewable energy beginnings to power their telecom towers. Some major areBharti Infratel has set a mark of deploying 2000 renewable energy sites by the fiscal twelvemonth 2010-11. The undertaking is besides expected to ensue in an estimated decrease of 58,170 metric tons of CO2 emanations per twelvemonth.BSNL has taken up pilot undertakings for 10 kilowatts solar workss at 14 sites and Wind power undertaking at 6 USO funded sites in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra.Indus Towers, the largest with over 1 lakh to wers in India, will put up 2,500 solar towers by September this twelvemonth.Viom Networks, which operates more than 38,000 towers across India, plans to run more than one-quarter of this figure on alternate energy within the following two old ages. It plans to run 2,000 towers on solar power entirely by 2013.There are around 5,60,276 Base Transceiver Stations ( BTS ) in the state. It may be noted that BTS is different from towers as one tower may hold more than one BTS. In India the tower companies portion the tower sites with all telecom operators. While the tower is erected by the tower substructure companies, the BTS is installed by the telecom operators. A nomadic tower is an joyous where electronic communications equipment are placed on a radio mast or tower to make a cell in a cellular web. A nomadic tower is composed of a tower or other elevated construction for mounting aerial and one or more sets of transmitter/receivers transceivers, digital signal processors, control el ectronics, a GPS receiving system, regular and backup electrical power beginnings, and sheltering. Circle wise abatement up of BTS is given below 3 .MetroDelhiA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 20,715MumbaiA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 21,038KolkottaA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 14,018TotalA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 55,771A CirclesMaharashtraA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 42,998GujaratA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 31,852Andhra PradeshA A A A A A A A A A A 43,661KarnatakaA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 39,093Tamil NaduA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 52,075TotalA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 2,09,679Fig 4. A roof top Mobile tower in Bhubaneswar utilizing intercrossed grid-DGB CirclesKeralaA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 27.156 Fig.3 A BTS systemPunjabA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 19,575HaryanaA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 13,883UPA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 68,487RajasthanA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 28,694Madhya PradeshA A A A A A A A A A A 31,665West BengalA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 24,532TotalA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 2,13,992C CirclesHimachal PradeshA A A A A A A A A 5,425BiharA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 35,086OrissaA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 18,095AssamA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 9,610North EastA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 5,490Jammu &038 A KashmirA A A A A A A A 7,128TotalA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 80,834Grand TotalA A A A A A A A A A A A A A 560,276DecisionTo cut down CO2 emanation and planetary heating due to telecom towers, Govt. should do it compulsory to telecom companies to utilize renewable energy.Govt. should halt subsidy on Diesel for telecom companies.More inducements should be given to those who use renewable energy for their towers.