Energy Efficiency and Hybrid Power Solutions

One of the single biggest operational cost (OPEX) for wireless and telecommunications companies is power and electricity prices are rising world wide with Australian electricity costs looking like they are going to rise by as much as 40%over the next few years.  In rural or remote areas actually getting power supply to sites can be difficult, time consuming and expensive. Connecting to mains power is often not a viable option and relying on diesel generators alone is not an ideal answer either.  Even in urban areas we are seeing that more and more rooftop sites are needing expensive electrical mains and switchboard upgrades to enable base stations to be installed or upgraded on the roof.

ENS offer a complete range of well proven whole of site solutions that can provide power for a mobile/cell site right through to the smallest wireless site.  They start however with a review of the current site energy consumption and efficiency.

The most important step in any power solution is energy efficiency – from the air-conditioning (cooling is often the biggest use of  electricity on site) system right through to light usage there is potential for energy to be saved by reviewing, assessing and making minor changes.

 (Top Tip from us – raising the set point of the existing aircon system by just a few degrees will save electricity – in data centres it has been shown that a 1 degree rise in temperature can create a 4% saving in energy costs – try it – it’s free and easy to implement!!)

We can carry out audits of your whole site and advise on a range of site savings such as dc air-conditioners and free cooling solutions that offer a very quick return on investment.  Even connecting to a smart metering system and having some management software can pay for itself in a very short time.  Any smart power system should be as much about saving electrical consumption on the site by making the whole site more efficient as it is about new equipment.

Renewable energy usage will also grow in use in telecommunications networks as operators strive to squeeze operational costs out of networks – it will not just be in rural or regional sites but become more a whole of network choice.  It is a choice that must be carefully made though to ensure the correct package is selected for the correct sites.

Our hybrid solutions are much more than just a battery and monitoring product – they are complete solutions that include effective cooling systems, correct dimensioning, a range of the most effective deep cell batteries – based on an efficiency audit of your sites the optimum solutions would be brought together in a tailored solution for your requirements now and for your planned growth.  This is offered as a individual site product solution right through to a fully managed service where we take all the worry out of your power requirements for sites – and we have proven test cases of sites running in difficult heat and power supply areas that confirm the huge savings in OPEX that are achieved.  A correctly dimensioned renewable/hybrid power solution pays for itself very quickly and deliver real savings in operating costs making your network more profitable.

One of the things holding back greater adoption of hybrid and renewable solutions is the CAPEX commitment to retro fit whole networks – Entire Network Solutions can also offer some highly attractive answers to these  cost to deploy problems.  Some of these solutions see systems installed at no capital cost to the network operator.