Why should a base station use solar energy?

Solar energy and new energy sources: Various factors are encouraging operators to add solar energy to all base stations, including climate change and the need to conserve energy and reduce emissions, the continued drop in cost of new energy sources such as photovoltaics, and the rising cost performance of applications.

How to make base station (BS) green and energy efficient?

This paper aims to consolidate the work carried out in making base station (BS) green and energy efficient by integrating renewable energy sources (RES). Clean and green technologies are mandatory for reduction of carbon footprint in future cellular networks.

How are renewable systems configured?

The configuration of the renewable systems depends on the availability of other resources like utility and DG, but mostly the wind and solar irradiation of the site. Thus BSs have mostly been configured for either PV panels or wind turbines or hybrid of the two (Paudel et al., 2011).

How many solar-powered base stations does Verizon have?

Verizon has about 20 solar-powered base stations. T-Mobile, one of the earliest big carriers to switch on a fully solar-powered cell site in 2011, has added renewables to more sites and sometimes uses solar energy as temporary backup power, a practice that the company said it will expand in the coming years.

Is cellular communication the fastest growing component of telecom sector?

Cellular communication is the fastest growing component of telecom sector in particular and ICT in general (Iqbal et al., 2014; Bian et al., 2013). It is envisaged that the global BS power consumption will grow from 49 TWh in 2007 to 98 TWh by 2020 (Fehske et al., 2011).

How many kilowatts does a cellular base station use?

The average cellular base station, which comprises the tower and the radio equipment attached to it, can use anywhere from about one to five kilowatts (kW), depending on whether the radio equipment is housed in an air-conditioned building, how old the tower is and how many transceivers are in the base station.