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Telecom services play a vital role in the socio-economic development of a country. The number of people using these services is growing rapidly with further enhance growth expected in future. Consequently, the number of telecom towers that are critical for providing such services has also increased correspondingly. Such an increase in the number of telecom towers in a country implies a corresponding increase in the electricity demand of the country. Moreover, in view of growing concerns about climate change, it is necessary that the decarbonization of telecom towers is prioritized so as to minimize their carbon footprint. In view of the above, the primary objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive analysis of various renewable energy-based systems and the advantages they offer for powering telecom towers, based on a review of the existing literature and field installations. Telecom towers are powered by hybrid energy systems that incorporate renewable energy technologies such as solar photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, fuel cells, and microturbines. Utilizing these systems helps to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and consequently mitigates the anthropogenic carbon emissions. Moreover, information related to growth of the telecom industry, telecom tower configurations and power supply needs, conventional power supply options, and hybrid system combinations and their benefits. Several field installations of renewable energy-based hybrid systems have also been summarized. This review can help to evaluate appropriate low-carbon technologies and also to develop policy instruments to promote renewable energy-based telecom tower power systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selection of condenser cooling technology can affect the financial as well as technical viability of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. Detailed comparative assessment of three cooling technologies, i.e., wet, dry, and hybrid, is therefore desirable so as to facilitate selection of optimum cooling technology for the plant. Despite the high efficiency of wet cooling technology, considering the fact that the potential plant locations are generally in arid regions suffering from water scarcity, it is imperative to explore and consider other water conserving condenser cooling options. A review and comparison of technical, economic, and environmental aspects of the three condenser cooling technologies for CSP plants have been presented. Adoption of dry or hybrid technology as against wet cooling technology may lead to reduced thermal performance and increased parasitic power requirement resulting in the high cost of electricity generation. However, the same also results in reduced cooling water requirement up to 92% and thus increase the potential of solar thermal power generation considerably as sites in arid areas can also be utilized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An attempt has been made to evaluate the financial feasibility of hybrid power supply option during real-time grid power unavailability (continuous and intermittent) conditions and determine the optimal hybrid power supply configurations for outdoor telecom towers in India. As grid power availability is highly dependent on locations, a review of real-time hourly grid power supply availability for telecom towers at 36 locations in different parts of India has also been presented. Ten different locations across different climatic zones were analyzed, and it was found that duration and continuity (continuous and intermittent) of power outages considerably affect the LCOE of different configurations. So it is imperative that these factors be taken into account when determining the optimal hybrid power system. Solar PV-based hybrid power supply systems were found to have lower LCOE for all power outage conditions both in continuous as well as intermittent with their values in the range of Indian rupees (INR) 6.76–INR 26.32 (US $0.095–US $0.371) per kWh for the optimal cases (1 US$ = INR 76.28 (As on April 27, 2020)). While solar PV with battery is found to be the least cost hybrid power supply options for the telecom towers located in areas with continuous grid power unavailability up to 4 h, a diesel generator also needs to be included for larger hours of continuous grid unavailability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A framework to estimate the potential of solar cooking for institutional level applications is presented. Using the weather data of a given location (such as solar radiation, ambient temperature, and wind speed), the proposed framework estimates the number of days in a year when solar cooking is feasible and consequently the amount of useful energy saved. Around 57% of the annual useful energy required for cooking (5475 TJ/year out of 9562 TJ/year) in the institution-types considered in this study can be met with solar energy. The adoption of solar cooking in these institution-types is expected to save 197 thousand tonnes of LPG annually. The corresponding annual amount of CO2 emissions mitigation is estimated at 592 thousand tonnes. Amongst the six institution-types considered in the study, cooking of mid-day meal (MDM) in government schools of India has the maximum potential of solar cooking. The annual potential of useful energy savings with the use of solar energy for cooking of MDM is estimated at 3881 TJ out of a gross requirement of 6960 TJ/year. The framework developed and approach used in the study can be used for assessment of potential of institutional solar cooking as well as identification of niche areas for immediate intervention in any other country as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]