Abstract
Energy efficiency and renewable energy are the main pillars of sustainability and environmental compatibility. This study presents an overview of sustainable and green cellular base stations (BSs), which account for most of the energy consumed in cellular networks. We review the architecture of the BS and the power consumption model, and then summarize the trends in green cellular network research over the past decade. As its major contribution, this study highlights the uses of renewable energy in cellular communication by: (i) investigating the system model and the potential of renewable energy solutions for cellular BSs; (ii) identifying the potential geographical locations for renewable-energy-powered BSs; (iii) performing case studies on renewable-energy-powered cellular BSs and suggesting future research directions based on our findings; (iv) examining the present deployment of sustainable and green BSs; and (v) studying the barriers that prevent the widespread use of renewable-energy-powered BSs and providing recommendations for future work.
Highlights
Mobile communication is among the most successful technological innovations in modern history
This section examines the following topics: (i) the potential use of renewable energy solutions for cellular base stations (BSs) and the system model; the potential geographical locations for deploying renewable-energy-powered BSs and for widely deploying green cellular BSs; (iii) conducting case studies on the establishment of renewable-energy-powered cellular BSs and recommending future research directions based on the outcome of these studies; (iv) the current deployment of sustainable and green BSs, which can reflect the practical results of a green communication initiative; and (v) the barriers that hinder the spread of renewable-energy-powered BSs and recommendations for future research
GSMA predicted that the number of green BSs would increase to 389,800 by 2020 [8], which reflects predicted that the number of green BSs would increase to 389,800 by 2020 [8], which reflects the the growing awareness of cellular network operators about the significant economic and ecological growing awareness of cellular network operators about the significant economic and ecological influence of their networks in the coming years
Summary
Mobile communication is among the most successful technological innovations in modern history. The data traffic and the number of mobile subscribers have increased exponentially [2], thereby prompting cellular network operators to install additional cellular base stations (BSs) to meet the increasing demand [3]. The increasing number of BSs has significantly increased energy consumption because these stations account for around 57% of the total consumed energy in cellular networks [2,3] as shown in Figure 1a; these BSs increase the operational expenditures (OPEX) of cellular networks that are mostly spent on electricity bills [1,5]. Cellular network operators actively expand their network coverage, open new markets, and provide services to a billion potential customers in rural areas around the globe [7]. Using DG to power BSs does not present a viable option for those network companies that aim to expand and deliver their services to new customers [8,9]
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