Green Solutions for Telecom

Towers: Part II
Solar Photovoltaic Applications
July 2013
Intelligent Energy

2013 Intelligent Energy Limited

Green Solutions for Telecom Towers: Part II

Contents
1

INTRODUCTION

SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY (SPV) OVERVIEW

2.1

Solar photovoltaic applications

2.2

Components of solar photovoltaic systems

2.3

Efficiency of solar photovoltaic panels

2.4

Geographic considerations for photovoltaic applications

2.5

Advantages and challenges of solar photovoltaic technology

SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLUTIONS FOR TELECOM TOWERS

3.1

Solution design considerations

3.2

Opportunities and challenges of moving to solar technology in the Indian

telecom industry

3.3

Government initiatives

10

3.4

Green energy mandate for telecom towers

11

CASE STUDIES

12

4.1

Case study 1

12

4.2

4.1.1

Site location

12

4.1.2

Site description

12

4.1.3

Site economics

14

Case study 2

16

4.2.1

Site location

16

4.2.2

Site description

16

4.2.3

Site economics

18

4.3

Challenges on the ground

19

FUTURE OF SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY FOR TELECOM

20

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Green Solutions for Telecom Towers: Part II

1 Introduction
Energy saving is a key sustainability focus for the Indian telecom industry today. This is especially true in
rural areas where energy consumption contributes to 70% of the total network operating cost 1. In urban
areas, the energy cost for network operation ranges between 15-30%2. This expenditure on energy as a
result of the lack of grid availability highlights a potential barrier to telecom industry growth, especially
regarding the expansion of rural teledensity which sits at 40.81% compared to teledensity in urban areas
of 146.15%3.
It is estimated that in India almost 70% of telecom towers are located in areas with more than eight
hours of grid outage and almost 20% are located in off-grid areas4. This uncertainty in power availability
has compelled infrastructure providers to use diesel generators to ensure a continuous supply of power.
Annually more than 2.6 billion litres of diesel are consumed to operate telecom towers, resulting in the
emission of 7 million metric tonnes of CO25. Given the deregulation of diesel prices and the need to
reduce carbon emissions, it has become imperative for the industry to evaluate all alternative options in
order to improve network operation and to reduce energy costs. Several efforts have been made to
optimise energy costs, such as converting indoor base transceiver stations (BTS) to outdoor ones in order
to eliminate air conditioning on site, installing energy-efficient equipment and also using clean energy
sources to power the sites. Among them, using clean energy sources for power has the potential to
resolve the three key needs of the telecom industry, namely: reduction in diesel usage; expansion of
telecom infrastructure to off-grid areas; and reduction in carbon emissions. Clean-energy technologies
are well supported by the Indian Governments subsidy policy6. While clean energy technologies such as
solar photovoltaic, wind turbines, biomass power and fuel cells have undergone trials at telecom sites,
the majority of these trials have been with solar photovoltaic technology.
This white paper discusses two real-time telecom tower sites using solar photovoltaic technology. The
discussion includes an overview of the solution configuration and the economic case which includes OPEX
comparisons before and after the deployment of the solar photovoltaic solution. The challenges for
large-scale, on ground adoption are also evaluated.

2 Solar Photovoltaic Technology (SPV) Overview

Solar photovoltaic technology uses the light (photons) from the sun to produce DC electricity. As shown
in figure 1, a photovoltaic cell is a light-sensitive semiconductor device which, when exposed to sunlight,
releases electrons to produce DC current.

Adoption of Green Technology and Safety of Wireless Network by Milan Jain (Sr. Research Eng. Converged

Network, TRAI)
2

Adoption of Green Technology and Safety of Wireless Network by Milan Jain (Sr. Research Eng. Converged

Network, TRAI)
3

http://www.indiatelecomonline.com/topics/telecom-statistics/

http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Energy-for-the-Telecom-Towers-India-Market-Sizing-andForecasting-September-2010.pdf
5

Assumption 2.1 litres. Diesel usage per hour and 8 hours of outage per day for 4,25,000 towers

http://www.solar-apps.com/Revised-Capital-Subsidy-and-Benchmark-cost-of-the-SPV-system.pdf

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Green Solutions for Telecom Towers: Part II

Figure 1: Electricity generation in a solar photovoltaic cell

2.1 Solar photovoltaic applications

Solar photovoltaic technology can be used as either a stand-alone, grid-connected or hybrid solution. The
table below summarises the description of each type of application.
Table 1: Three types of solar photovoltaic applications
Solar photovoltaic

Description

applications
Stand-alone

This type of application requires the equivalent level of backup

energy

storage

to

ensure

power

supply

when

sunshine

is

unavailable.
Grid-connected

In this application, energy is fed back from the photovoltaic module

to the grid.

Hybrid

This is a combination of photovoltaic arrays and other energy

sources such as hybrids with wind turbines, biomass power, fuel cells
and diesel generators.

2.2 Components of solar photovoltaic systems

Solar photovoltaic cells, modules, panels, strings and arrays
Solar photovoltaic cells are the building blocks of a solar photovoltaic system. Each photovoltaic cell
circuit is packaged in a protective laminate to avoid moisture and corrosion.
Solar photovoltaic modules consist of photovoltaic cell circuits and are connected in series and/or
parallel to produce the required currents.
Solar photovoltaic panels are the assembly of modules and are wired in series to form an installable
unit.
A number of panels are connected in series and are termed as a solar photovoltaic string.
Solar photovoltaic arrays are a group of strings which form the complete power generation unit. Figure
2 illustrates a solar cell, module, array and string structure.

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Green Solutions for Telecom Towers: Part II

Figure 2: Structure of a photovoltaic system7

Charge controller
A charge controller regulates the voltage and current output from the solar panels as required by the
battery and the load. It also keeps the batteries protected from overcharging and discharging.
Battery bank
The battery bank is used as storage providing the source of power during non-sunshine hours. Battery
capacity is measured in Ampere-hours (Ah) at a constant discharge rate. A wide range of batteries can be
used in solar photovoltaic configurations. Lead-acid and valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) gel batteries
are most commonly used across telecom sites in India.
2.3 Efficiency of solar photovoltaic panels
The efficiency of a solar photovoltaic system varies and depends on the grade of the photovoltaic
material used. The table below summarises the various types of solar photovoltaic materials and their
respective efficiencies.
Table 2: Current range of efficiencies for different solar photovoltaic technologies 8
Wafer-based c-Si

Thin films

Single

Multi

Amorphous Silicon

Cadmium-

Copper-Indium-

Crystalline

Crystalline

(a-Si); Micro-morph

Telluride (CdTe)

Diselenide (CIS) /

(sc-Si)

(mc-Si)

Silicon (a-Si/c-Si)

Copper-IndiumGallium- Diselenide
(CIGS)

14-20%

13-15%

6-9%

9-11%

http://www1.cooperbussmann.com/pdf/9df1f7ec-8c62-4210-8cf8-9504927394f0.pdf

http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/pv_roadmap.pdf

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Green Solutions for Telecom Towers: Part II

2.4 Geographic considerations for photovoltaic applications

Geographic parameters including daily average energy incidents, the duration and availability of sunshine
and also solar power density across different geographic locations, influence the scope of solar
photovoltaic deployment. Table 3 provides facts on solar radiation in India.
Table 3: Geographic considerations of solar photovoltaic applications in India9
Parameters

Availabilities

Daily average energy incidents

4-7kWhr/m2

Solar power density across India

See solar map of India (figure 3)

Duration of quality sunshine per day

Approximately 5 hours

Number of days with quality sunshine

300

The figure below shows the solar power density across India which maps the performance and
deployment feasibility of solar photovoltaic solutions.
Figure 3: Solar power density in India10,11

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_India

10

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_Resource_Map_of_India.png

11

Map presents annual average of solar power density

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2.5 Advantages and challenges of solar photovoltaic technology

Solar photovoltaic technology has some limitations which make its mass adoption challenging. These
include high initial levels of capital investment, the requirement for large deployment areas, dependency
on sunshine availability and configuration of storage capacity. Table 4 provides a broad overview of some
of the basic advantages and challenges of solar photovoltaic applications.
Table 4: Advantages and challenges of solar photovoltaic technology
Parameters

Advantages

Challenges

Emissions

Zero

None

Space requirement

None

Footprint requirement @10 square

meter/kW.

CAPEX

OPEX

Recent drop in panel price

Requires

due to mass manufacturing and

hence the additional battery cost

high

storage

capacity,

technology innovation

increases the CAPEX.

No fuel required

Regular panel cleaning is required to

maintain optimum efficiency.

Sunshine availability

Average 300 days annually

Some geographic locations in India

have a prolonged monsoon season
and

hence

less

availability

of

sunshine.
Solution configuration

Easily integrated into

Intermittent

hybrid solution

requires equipment automation to

sunshine

availability

optimise solar photovoltaic usage. A

higher capacity solution leads to a
higher CAPEX investment.
Storage

Enough sunshine to charge the

High battery capacity is required in

battery in high solar density (4-

areas with less solar power density

7kWh/m2 ) areas

(less than 4 kWh/m2).

3 Solar Photovoltaic Solutions for Telecom Towers

Enabling distributed power generation and emission-free operation makes solar photovoltaic technology a
desired option for backup power. However, the dependency on sunshine and the average space
requirement of 10 square metres for a 1kWp panel12 limits the scope of deployment.
In recent trials, the two types of applications deployed at telecom tower sites are stand-alone and hybrid
solar photovoltaic. The application types were chosen based on the site load profile, grid outage
scenarios, space availability at the site and other configuration aspects including average sunshine
availability throughout the trial and the power storage configuration for non-sunshine hours.
The illustration in figure 4 describes the stand-alone system and figure 5 details the hybrid application
using solar photovoltaic technology. Hybrid applications can be developed by combining solar
photovoltaic technology with various energy sources such as wind turbines, biomass gasifiers, fuel cells
and diesel generators. Using an augmented battery bank is not considered to be a hybrid solution;
instead it is a part of the solar photovoltaic solution.

12

Solar Opportunities in Telecom by Sai Ram Prasad, CTO, Bharti Infratel, Solar Directory 2012

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Green Solutions for Telecom Towers: Part II

Figure 4: Stand-alone solar photovoltaic application

Figure 5: Hybrid solar photovoltaic application

3.1

Solution design considerations

The solution design is based on the availability of sunshine in a particular geographic region. Table 5
provides a theoretical approach to solution design and describes the parameters for solution design
consideration.

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Table 5: Factors influencing solar photovoltaic solution design

Parameters

Description

Load

A detailed site load profile is required to design the total panel

capacity.

Efficiency losses

Efficiency losses of the various tower site equipment influence

solar panel capacity. Solar photovoltaic technology as an energy
source needs the capacity to support the BTS load after
considering the losses of the battery, charge controller and other
auxiliary loads.

Energy incident

The availability of daily average energy incidents of 4-6 hours

duration largely impacts the energy output per panel. This
determines the panel capacity at the site.

Efficiency of solar photovoltaic

The efficiency of different panel sizes influences the total solution

panels

footprint. Also the number of panels required to meet the energy

Panel capacity

Panel size

Battery configuration

demand is determined by panel efficiency.

The charging current limitation of a given battery is fixed and

Charging current limitation

based on its specification. Battery capacity is designed according

Battery output voltage

to the duration and availability of sunshine and charging current

required (Ah)

limitation, especially when solar is the only source of battery

charging.

3.2 Opportunities and challenges of solar photovoltaic technology adoption in the Indian
telecom industry
Solar photovoltaic technology has come to be economically viable for different applications over the last
few years as a result of technology maturity, the scale of adoption, mass manufacturing and innovation.
Solar photovoltaic prices have reduced by 65% since 2001 and 73% since 2007 13. The trend in price fall
is represented in figure 6 below.
Figure 6: Price trend of solar photovoltaic modules, 2001 to 201214

13

http://thisisxy.com/blog/the-rise-of-green-mobile-telecom-towers

14

GTM Research, X&Y Partners analysis

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Green Solutions for Telecom Towers: Part II

This significant price reduction has redefined the economic viability of solar photovoltaic solutions for
telecom applications and could accelerate the speed of adoption. According to the Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI), switching to solar will save $1.4 billion in operating expenses for telecom tower
companies compared to the current diesel solution15.
The table below shows solar photovoltaic deployment statistics by different telecom operators and
infrastructure providers as of May 201316. A few recent examples/initiatives of solar photovoltaic adoption
include Bharti Airtels plan for deploying 3000 solar photovoltaic sites, Idea Cellulars intention for 200
solar hybrid installations and Vodafones target of deploying 150 solar photovoltaic sites (in addition to
the 390 sites currently deployed by Vodafone)17.
Table 6: Adoption of solar photovoltaic applications for telecom towers18 (as per GSMAs Green
Deployment Tracker)

Company
Bharti Infratel Ltd

Solar towers
1350

Vodafone Essar

390

Idea Cellular

100

Indus Towers

650

GTL Infrastructure
Total

80
2570

Though government subsidies, lower interest rates on loans and the significant reduction in solar panel
prices are encouraging, there are more challenges that need to be addressed including optimal solution
design for various energy management scenarios, seamless integration with other renewable energy
technology (RET) solutions and optimal configuration of solar photovoltaic panels as well as appropriate
storage and space requirements.
3.3 Government initiatives
The Indian government is taking a multifaceted approach to accelerate energy security and to reduce the
countrys dependency on fossil fuels. A few of the solar initiatives by various government bodies are
outlined below:
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM):
This programme provides a comprehensive framework of solar power development in India. The Mission
envisions 200 MW capacity of off-grid solar applications by the end of Phase-I (2013) and an overall
installation of 2,200 MW by 2022. Under this scheme, systems of up to 100 kWp will receive funding
support from the government.
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE):
To encourage the usage of alternative and renewable energy sources, the MNRE provides the following
support under the JNNSM scheme:

The MNRE announced its support for 400 telecom towers using solar photovoltaic technology19

15

http://www.ccaoi.in/UI/links/fwresearch/conceltation%20paper%203.pdf

16

http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/programmes/green-power-for-mobile/tracker

17

http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/GPM-Bi-Annual-Report-January-2013.pdf

18

http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/programmes/green-power-for-mobile/tracker

19

http://panchabuta.com/2011/08/22/400-telecom-towers-supported-in-pilot-project-for-use-of-solar-photovoltaic-power-systems-bymnre-for-fy11-in-india/
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Green Solutions for Telecom Towers: Part II

Operator and infrastructure provides wide distribution of 400 MNRE-supported towers across
India

The MNRE provides up to INR 81.00/Wp to offset the project cost

In April 2011, the MNRE revised the capital subsidy and benchmarked the cost of solar
photovoltaic systems20 to account for solar panel cost reduction in recent years

Table 7: Statistics of 400 solar powered towers supported by the MNRE in India

Operators

States

Number of solar-powered towers

Airtel

Bihar

100

Indus

Andhra Pradesh

100

Uttar Pradesh

100

Across 12 states of India

100

GTL Infrastructure
BSNL
Total

400

Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF):

To evaluate the viability of using renewable energy sources in the USO Fund projects, the USO Fund has
collaborated with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) for the latters Lighting a Billion Lives
initiative. The aim is to provide additional mobile charging facilities for rural areas. The project will cover
5,000 villages across India over two years21.
3.4 Green energy mandate for telecom towers
TRAIs mandate requires that telecom companies should use renewable sources of energy to power at
least 50% of rural telecom towers and 20% of urban telecom towers by 2015. By 2020, the telecom
companies have to convert 75% of rural towers and 33% of urban towers to run on hybrid power22. The
MNREs recent mandate to convert a minimum of 50,000 towers to solar photovoltaic technology23
immediately is another step towards ensuring compliance for the adoption of clean energy. Several
proposals from the government have been rolled out for solar powered telecom sites such as Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Limiteds (BSNLs) tender for 15 telecom towers in Bihar24 and the Department of
Telecommunications proposal for 2,200 telecom towers for security networks25.
The Tower and Infrastructure Providers Associations (TAIPA) initiative of forming Renewable Energy
Service Companies (RESCOs) provides a simplified ecosystem of energy management for telecom towers,
whereby infrastructure providers have to pay a fee based on the actual usage of power with no upfront
investment in capital. Thus far, high levels of capital investment and inability of a single renewable
energy technology to provide a full range of solutions across all geographies in India make it a challenge
for RESCOs to be successful26.
Due to these varied energy management scenarios, the Indian telecom industry is yet to benchmark the
cost of operation for telecom towers.

20

http://www.solar-apps.com/Revised-Capital-Subsidy-and-Benchmark-cost-of-the-SPV-system.pdf

21

http://www.tele.net.in/telefocus/item/11111-telecom-outreach-key-role-of-the-uso-fund

22

http://www.igovernment.in/site/telecom-towers-be-powered-renewable-energy

23

http://www.energynext.in/at-least-50000-mobile-towers-should-switch-to-solar-mnre/

24

Tender No.-25068/MS-O&M/CSPS/Non BSNL sites/12-13/06

25

http://www.ciol.com/ciol/news/187289/dot-seek-cabinet-approval-200-green-towers

26

Intelligent Energy Ltd, Green Solutions for Telecom Towers: Part I, March 2013

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Green Solutions for Telecom Towers: Part II

4 Case Studies
The two case studies below provide an insight into the practicalities and economics of solar photovoltaic
technology implementation by providing actual data at the live sites. The discussion includes details of
the solution configuration and economic comparisons of the before and after solar hybrid solution
installation at both sites.
4.1 Case study 1
4.1.1 Site location
Table 8: Site description of case study 1
Site location
Geographic location

District: Kolar
State: Karnataka

Distance from Bangalore

72 km

Average daily temperature

35C

4.1.2 Site description

Table 9: Site description of case study 1
Site description

Units

Values

Site type

Outdoor

Base transceiver station (BTS

Outdoor

Number of BTS

BTS load

kW

Grid electricity panel

kVA

15

Grid power availability

hrs/day

Battery bank

Ah

300

Diesel generator

kVA

15

Energy management before the solar photovoltaic hybrid installation

Before the installation of the solar photovoltaic solution, the 15 hours of grid deficit was backed up by
running a 15kVA diesel generator for 12 hours and the remaining 3 hours using a 300Ah battery. Figure 7
illustrates the power supply schematic at the site.

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Figure 7: Power supply schematic of backup power with diesel generator prior to solar hybrid installation
of case study 1

Energy management after the solar photovoltaic hybrid installation

In February 2012, a solar photovoltaic solution was installed at the site. The solution includes 3kW solar
panels, a central controlling unit (CCU) and a 600Ah VRLA battery bank that supports the (on average)
14 hours of grid power outage per day. The static power conditioning unit (PCU) which replaces the
earlier power interface unit (PIU) provides the additional hour of grid utilisation by managing grid voltage
fluctuation. This turnkey solution is provided by ALTA Energy, India.
The central controlling unit controls and monitors solar power utilisation, grid power utilisation and
battery utilisation, as well as battery charging and discharging. The central controlling unit is
programmed to prioritise the solar photovoltaic technology as a primary power source over all the other
power sources. Hence, solar power is used when sunshine is available even if the grid power is available.
The solution has an inbuilt data transfer unit (DTU) to store and transmit data for remote monitoring and
sends SMS alerts through GPRS when service is required.
Since installation, the diesel generator has not been in use. Figure 8 below illustrates the power supply
schematic at the site.
Figure 8: Power supply schematic, with solar photovoltaic installation for case study 1

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Table 10: Solution configuration of case study 1

Components

Units

Value

Solar panel capacity

kWp

PCU

kVA

15

Solar maximum power

kW

SMPS

kW

Battery capacity

Ah

600

point tracker controller

(MPPT)

4.1.3 Site economics

OPEX comparison
Table 11 shows the monthly savings over the traditional diesel solution for backup power for the telecom
tower after the solar photovoltaic solution was installed. Evaluated in the comparison are cost of the grid,
cost of fuel for the diesel generator and operation and maintenance of the hybrid solution.
Table 11: OPEX comparison of the before and after solar photovoltaic hybrid installation for case study
127

Components

Units

Before solar hybrid

After solar hybrid

Cost of grid consumption

INR/day

99

69

Diesel cost

INR/day

1186

Maintenance cost

INR/day

159

37

Total OPEX

INR/day

1444

116

Per unit OPEX

INR/kWh

60

Savings per kWh is calculated to INR 55.00

Payback period calculations
The solution costs INR 13,60,000. If the solution is financed for 120 months at 14% rate of interest, the
monthly pay out for CAPEX is INR 21,116 which adds INR 5 per kWh.
The graph in figure 9 compares the cost of energy of the solar photovoltaic solution with the diesel
solution, considering an annual expenditure for diesel at various price points, installed capacity and
operation and maintenance.

27

All numbers are presented as actuals from site

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Figure 9: Cash-flow projections in case study 1

Payback period analysis for case study 1

Diesel @70.00 INR/ltr
Diesel @60.00 INR/ltr
Diesel @52.25 INR/ltr

Solar Photovoltaic

Year Year Year Year Year Year Year Year Year Year
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
The graph summarises the time frame of the realised return on investment for the installed solar
photovoltaic solution in comparison with the yearly expenditure for the diesel solution. Considering the
plausible price points of diesel at INR 52.25 per litre28, INR 60 per litre and INR 70 per litre, the
respective payback periods, including CAPEX investment, are plotted. The chart demonstrates that, at
INR 52.25 per litre of diesel, the return on investment on solar photovoltaic can be realised after
approximately 2.5 years of deployment. When the price is at INR 60 or 70 per litre, the return on
investment of solar photovoltaic technology will be much faster, that is between 1 and 2 years. In this
case, for every INR 10 increase in diesel price the time frame of the return on investment for the solar
photovoltaic solution is reduced by approximately 6 months.
The savings resulting from the deployment of the solar photovoltaic system will result in an increase in
free cash flow of INR 4,81,737 on an annual basis. In other words, the investment in the system will
yield an IRR of 33% which is significantly higher than cost of capital (14%) and implies viability of the
solution.
This site has not received any capital subsidies for solar photovoltaic systems and hence such subsidies
have not been used in the calculation.

28

Delhi diesel price in June 2013 INR 50.25 per litre, plus INR 2.00 logistic cost

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4.2 Case study 2

4.2.1 Site location
Table 12: Site location of case study 2
Site location
Geographic location

District: Tumkur
State: Karnataka

Distance from Bangalore

150 km

Average daily temperature

Minimum 18C
Maximum 35C

4.2.2 Site description

Table 13: Site description of case study 2
Site description

Units

Value

Site type

Outdoor

BTS

Outdoor

Number of BTS

BTS load

kW

Grid power availability

hrs/day

Energy management before the solar photovoltaic hybrid installation

Before the installation of the hybrid solution, the sites backup power requirement of 18 hours a day on
average was fulfilled by a 20kVA diesel generator running for a minimum of 10 hours per day and the
remaining 8 hours by three batteries each of 400Ah capacity, with one for each of the service providers
BTSs. The diagram below represents the diesel generator power supply schematic at the site.
Figure 10: Power supply schematic of backup power with diesel generator prior to solar hybrid installation
in case study 2

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Energy management after the solar photovoltaic hybrid installation

In May 2009, a solar hybrid solution was installed to meet the 18 hours of outage. The solar hybrid
solution includes a 10kW solar photovoltaic panel, a 5kW wind turbine, a 22kW SMPS and a 2500Ah
battery. The 400Ah battery bank also remains at each BTS. The battery was designed to ensure
maximum energy storage and utilisation of solar hybrid power at the site. Figure 11 illustrates the power
supply schematic at the site.
Figure 11: Power supply schematic after the solar hybrid solution installation in case study 2

As depicted in the diagram, both solar and wind power generators are connected to their respective
charge controller units (CCUs) for optimal power transfer. The following table provides configuration
details of the solar hybrid solution.
Table 14: Solar photovoltaic hybrid configuration in case study 2

Components

Units

Value

Solar panel capacity

kWp

10

Solar charge controller and

kW

10

kWp

Switch mode power supply

kW

22

Battery capacity

Ah

2500

maximum power point

tracker
Wind turbine and charge
controller

On certain days, due to prolonged grid failure, lack of sunshine or total absence of wind, the diesel
generator supports the backup power need. According to the site records, of the 18 hours of daily outage,

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Green Solutions for Telecom Towers: Part II

on average almost 16 hours of backup power is provided by the solar hybrid solution and the remaining 2
hours by the diesel generator29.
In comparison with case study 1, since the load is higher here, the possibility of using the solar hybrid
solution as a stand-alone option reduces.
4.2.3 Site economics
OPEX comparison
Table 15 shows the monthly savings after the solar hybrid solution was installed. Evaluated in the
comparison are the cost of grid consumption, cost of fuel for the diesel generator and the operation and
maintenance of the hybrid solution.
Table 15: Comparison of OPEX for the before and after solar photovoltaic hybrid installation for case
study 230

Components

Units

Before solar hybrid

After solar hybrid

Cost of grid consumption

INR/day

263

269

Diesel cost

INR/day

1138

354

Maintenance cost

INR/day

379

441

Total OPEX

INR/day

1781

1064

Per unit OPEX

INR/kWh

25

15

Savings per kWh is calculated to INR 10

Payback period calculation
The solution which includes solar panels, wind turbine, battery bank, two charge controller units and
SMPS of capacities described in table 13 costs a total of approximately INR 27,00,000. If the solution is
financed for 120 months at the rate of 14% interest 31, the monthly pay out for CAPEX is INR 42,200
which adds INR 25 per kWh. It should be noted that the solar solution design has not been optimised at
this site. With optimisation, there is an opportunity to reduce the CAPEX investment.
The graph below compares the cost of providing backup power using the solar photovoltaic solution in
comparison with a diesel-only solution at the various points of diesel price projection.

29

Based on site average actual data

30

All numbers are presented as actuals (March 2013) from site

31

60 months contract duration already completed and contract duration of 60 months likely to be extended as per discussions with
BSNL
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Figure 12: Cash-flow projection in case study 2

Pay back period analysis for case study 2

Diesel @ 70.00INR/ltr
Diesel @ 60.00INR/ltr
Diesel @ 52.25.00INR/ltr

Solar photovoltaic with

around 80% subsidies

Year Year Year Year Year Year Year Year Year Year
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

The graph summarises the time frame of the realised return on investment for the installed solar
photovoltaic solution against the yearly expenditure of the diesel solution. At the time of this evaluation,
the price of diesel is INR 52.25 per litre32. Given that the deregulation of diesel prices is expected at any
time, diesel at INR 60 per litre and INR 70.00 per litre is used in this analysis chart. From the chart it can
be determined that with an increase of every INR 10 per litre in the price of diesel, the solar photovoltaic
payback period reduces by approximately 2.5 years. However, for this 3kW site, at the current price of
INR 52.25 per litre and without any subsidy from the government, the time frame of solar photovoltaic
payback period is approximately 9 years.
The savings resulting from the deployment of the solar photovoltaic system will result in an increase in
free cash flow of INR 2,61,456 on an annual basis. In other words, the investment in the system will
yield an IRR of -1% which is significantly lowers than cost of capital (14%) and implies non-viability of
the solution over the contract duration of 10 years.
As a proof-of-concept site, this deployment received around 80% subsidy from the government, making
the solution economically viable from the date of installation as shown in figure 12.
4.3 Challenges on the ground
Due to the diversity of energy management scenarios, viability of the technology and maturity of the
solution, adoption of renewable energy technology has multiple challenges before it can be adopted at
large scale across the country. Table 16 captures a few of the major challenges encountered by both test
case sites.

32

Delhi diesel price in June 2013 INR 50.25 per litre, plus INR 2.00 logistic cost

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Table 16: List of challenges faced by telecom infrastructure providers and RESCOs in deploying RET
solutions at large scale

Parameters
Technology

Challenges

Seamless integration with other energy sources such as wind turbines, biomass
and fuel cells

Configuration of off-grid applications

Complex system integration (configuration is not optimised for consumption)

Prioritisation of solar photovoltaic technology among other available energy

sources for frequent outages

challenges

Optimisation of solution configuration in terms capacity installed

Deployment

Higher foot print requirement

Optimum exposure to sunshine for the solar panel

Poor operation and maintenance services

Capital intensive

Geographical limitation

Variety of energy management scenarios and flexibility of solution integration

High CAPEX

Replacement of batteries further increases the capital investment

Not enough encouragement by government to overcome the tipping point in the

adoption of the technology at large scale

challenges

Design and
configuration

challenges

Scalability
challenges

Economic
challenges

5 Future of Solar Photovoltaic Technology for Telecom

In telecom, solar photovoltaic technology has experienced a better rate of adoption to date in comparison
with other RETs. Achieving optimal configuration is still a barrier for large-scale adoption of the solution.
As shown in the case studies, telecom sites with lower load profiles benefit from solar photovoltaic
technology installations from day one whereas for telecom sites with higher load profiles, it is difficult to
justify the cost of capital investment required. The growing cost of diesel and relevant subsidies may tip
the balance in favour of solar investment in some of these cases. For higher load profile sites, battery
capacity is high thereby increasing capital investment and maintenance requirements. At times, these
sites have to fall back on diesel generators to supplement the gap left by the solar solution.
With innovative business models like the OPEX model solution where the initial capital investment is
financed and the telecom tower owner pays only for the usage, the solar adoption rate can increase
significantly.
While solar offers a good solution for many telecom towers with lower load profiles, the deployment
constraints at other towers make it necessary to evaluate the capabilities of alternative renewable energy
technologies aside from solar, such as biomass power and fuel cells. The next edition of this whitepaper
will discuss the practical and economic viabilities of these alternative technologies.

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Intelligent Energy acknowledges the contribution of ALTA Energy India and all others, for sharing information and
conducting primary research used in the development of this white paper.
A special thanks to Mr P.K. Panigrahi, Sr. Dy. Director General (BW), DOT and Mr V.K. Hirna, Dy. Director General
(Electrical), DOT for their support.

About Intelligent Energy

Intelligent Energy delivers efficient and clean energy technology for the global consumer electronics, automotive and
stationary power markets from compact energy packs for mobile devices, to power-trains for zero-emission vehicles,
and stationary power units for the always-on infrastructure.
Our unique technology architecture is used by global blue chip companies to create differentiated, cost-efficient fuel
cell power systems for mass market applications. It enables Intelligent Energy and our industry partners to solve the
challenges of continuous power and productivity, by creating convenient everyday energy solutions to power your life.
Intelligent Energy operates globally, with offices in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
www.intelligent-energy.com

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