Abstract
This study focuses on the economic and environmental impacts of the deployment of cellular base stations (BSs) in remote/rural areas of South Korea. The optimal system, energy production, and operational costs of various renewable energy systems (RESs), such as solar power systems and hybrid solar power/wind power systems, in supplying third-generation cellular BSs with their required energy are discussed in this paper. To highlight the economic feasibility of the proposed RESs, a comparison between their economic feasibilities is presented. In addition, a comparison between the economic feasibilities of the proposed RESs and the classic energy solution of using a diesel generator (DG) is provided. Results show that the total operating expenses that can be saved can reach up to 56.13% if DG is replaced with the hybrid solar power/wind power system. Moreover, the operating expense savings are increased to 56.99% when a stand-alone solar power system is used. These results can be considered a valuable reference for mobile operators to show that shifting toward renewable energy technology is an attractive option.
Highlights
Cellular networks have witnessed a significant development in the last decade
Apart from the environmental impact of off-grid, diesel generator (DG)-powered mobile base stations (BSs) deployed in remote areas, the operating expenses (OPEX) for the intensive deployment of cellular BSs in urban and rural areas to provide mobile services to the largest number of subscribers are major concerns of mobile operators [1]. These concerns exert considerable pressure on mobile operators to meet the demands of environmental conservation and OPEX reduction because the high energy consumption of mobile networks has resulted in a significant increase in the number of mobile
The average wind resource of South Korea is less than 5.0 m/s; a stand-alone wind power system is unreasonable as a reliable or practical energy source [13]
Summary
Apart from the environmental impact of off-grid, diesel generator (DG)-powered mobile base stations (BSs) deployed in remote areas, the operating expenses (OPEX) for the intensive deployment of cellular BSs in urban and rural areas to provide mobile services to the largest number of subscribers are major concerns of mobile operators [1]. These concerns exert considerable pressure on mobile operators to meet the demands of environmental conservation and OPEX reduction because the high energy consumption of mobile networks has resulted in a significant increase in the number of mobile. A comparison between RESs and the traditional energy source (DG) is provided (DG)
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