Ericsson, Orange Team Deploys Energy Efficient Base Stations in Rural Africa

Orange Guinea Conakry and Ericsson are reportedly deploying more than 100 base stations fully powered by solar energy, connecting remote parts of rural Africa.

 

This remarkable event is said to be increasing mobile coverage in rural and urban areas of Africa, while taking concrete steps towards its target of reducing CO2 emissions by 20 percent by 2020. The base stations deployed by the company are solar energy powered and includes a hybrid diesel-battery solution and solar panels.

 

The Ericsson (News - Alert) BTS 2111 radio base station is a main-remote solution without any active moving parts such as cooling fans. It reduces energy consumption up to 50 percent, allowing the site to be fully powered by solar energy, supported by a battery bank for 24/7 operation.

 

Alassane Diene, CEO of Orange-Guinea Conakry, says: "We are reducing our energy bill. These base stations are also easier to install and require less maintenance than the traditional site. They also offer greater reliability and therefore considerably improved quality of service."

 

The hybrid diesel-battery energy solution used in Africa is Ericcson’s revolutionary product that replaces one of a site's diesel generators with a bank of specially designed batteries that can handle a large amount of charging and discharging. This self-contained power solution can be set to meet the batteries' optimal charging and discharging levels, extending the lifetime of the battery and the generator, and reducing energy-related costs by about 50 percent.

 

Jan Embro, President of Ericsson for sub-Saharan Africa, says: "It is extremely exciting to be able to run sites on alternative energy sources. Limiting dependency on fossil fuels brings many advantages, but the greatest is the ability to offer sustainable connectivity to low-income users in remote areas across Africa."

 

According to the sources, Ericsson and Orange are making a team effort to reduce the carbon footprint while making communication more affordable and accessible. Orange Group aims to have more than 1000 wholly solar-powered base stations in its African operations by the end of 2009.

 

As radio technology becomes more energy-efficient, solar solutions have become increasingly economically viable. Reaching the next billion subscribers means expanding to rural off-grid areas. Ericsson sees attractive business cases for using renewable solutions all around the world.