Pakistan is in Urgent Need of Solar Energy

During the last century world population increased near four folds and the energy usage multiplied about twenty times. According to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), one of the foremost challenges Pakistan will be facing in future is the supply of adequate energy. According to Vision 2030 of the Planning Commission, the reserves of natural gas, which contribute about 50% of energy to Pakistan, will start declining within the next decade and the storage capacity of dams is reducing due to silting e.g. the capacity of Tarbela Dam has decreased by 27 percent. Some careful estimates expect the demand and supply gap to reach up to 8,000 Mega Watts by 2010.

On the other hand, the dependency on electric power is also increasing with the projected usage of electronic equipments, cell phones being the major players. Since the introduction of Insta and Paktel mobile phones based on Analog Mobile Phone System (AMPS) technology in the second half of 1990’s, Pakistan is witnessing continued growth of cell phone subscribers. The operators have been constantly expanding network coverage in small cities, suburbia, countryside and mountainous areas.

With over twenty thousand towers erected throughout the country, cellular phone companies have access to only 61% of their target market according to estimates of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The companies are in vigorous competition to get touched by the rest of 39% and it is a step toward development of country both technologically and economically. The total number of mobile-phone users projected from 22 million at beginning of 2006 to 77 million at the end of 2007.

London Business School estimates that an increase of 10 mobile phones per 100 people boosts GDP growth by 0.6% and telecommunication alone contributed to 27.92% of the total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of Pakistan in 2007-08, according to PTA.

Operating Power of Mobile Telecom Networks comes from either electric-grids run by Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), in the case of Pakistan or privately owned/leased diesel-fueled generators, called Gensets in telecommunication terminology. In the situation of power outages by WAPDA, which increased to 10 hours in summer of 2008, Gensets serve as alternate but they have typically limited life due to likelihood of poor fuel, transportation challenges, disposition to thefts and poor maintenance etc.

Humans have been using energy from sun for cooking and warmth for centuries. Due to technological advances solar energy is being used for heating, cooking, production of hydrogen and electric power generation, to name the few. To contribute toward tackling energy crises engineers and technologists are devising ways to power Base Stations, integral and the most power consuming equipments of a cellular network, through alternate and renewable energy resources.

Based on approximate figures, a typical Base Station costs nearly $100,000 and requires 3000 Watts to run, excluding the Base Station Controller (BSC) and Mobile Switching Center (MSC). One of the techniques, popular in telecom circles nowadays, for running the Base Stations is Solar Energy which in addition to renewable and everlasting is also green or eco-friendly. Some of the major advances in this regard are mentioned in the lines to be followed.

Alcatel-Lucent announced to have powered its 200th radio site including BTS, microwave and other electrical components with solar power in the first quarter of 2008. The site provides coverage to remote population on some islets of Senegal which had not any access to wireless communications previously. Easily deployable, the system stipulates only few solar panels and consumes low energy, comparatively.

Diesel generators are inefficient at places with high daytime humidity as in case of hot clime areas of Punjab and Sindh. Claiming to reduce fuel consumption by 75%, Maryland-based Integrated Power Corporation runs the equipment of Etisalat, the national telecommunication operator of UAE, by solar power during daylight hours and by diesel generator at night.

Engineers at Motorola Labs developed a power system making use of both solar and wind energy for powering remote Base Stations. The system can generate 1,200 Watts of electric power continuously, enough to run a mid-sized cell covering an operating radius of 120 km. The combined energy, after addition of 6,000 Watts from the wind turbine, is stored in a bank of specially designed lead-acid batteries which last up to three years before requiring replacement. Such hybrid power supply system is operational and is powering a cellular base station in a Namibian village to the date.

Vihaan Networks Limited (VNL), an Indian based network company, shocked everyone in July, 2008 when it announced its rural-centric WorldGSMTM , a GSM network deemed as a catalyst for emerging cellular services to far flung rural population of Africa, in particular. A Base Station in WorldGSM costs as low as $25,000 and requires less than 100 Watts of power which is provided by solar panels not larger than 8 square meters. It does not require any building and air conditioning and has functionally integrated BSC and MSC thus eliminating the need of skilled staff. In contrast, a typical Base Station demands skilled personnel including radio network planners, site engineers, civil engineers, and equipment specialists etc, and is housed in some building having capacity to accommodate three refrigerator-sized cabinets, dual air conditioning units and a roof site etc. Concurrently powering itself and recharging, the Base Stations of VNL have battery back-ups of about 72 hours and are designed to last eight years.

The whole story revolves around three solar-powered boxes: the BlueBox, as Base Transceiver Station (BTS); the GreenBox 160i, as Base Station Controller; and the OrangeBox 600i, as Mobile Switching Center (MSC). Based on geographic parameters, WorldGSM can be deployed in two main configurations: Rural Deployment which uses Cascading Star Architecture to cover an entire rural area, and Road Deployment which uses a series of bidirectional antennas to provide coverage along the roads.

In Pakistan also, some cellular operators are considering the solar option. Warid Telecom took initiative by deploying country’s first solar powered BTS site in late summer of 2008. The setup uses Huawei’s environmentally-friendly Solar Powered Macro Base Stations (BTS). Ufone launched its first Solar-Powered Cell Site at Haroonabad, Bhawalnagar in November, 2008.

Warid Telecom, for the second time deployed Solar-Powered BTS site at Lahore in January, 2009. Engineered at Pakistan, the BTS claims to show improved performance by saving thousands of liters of diesel per annum and eliminating the need of generator. Besides, Telenor has also been said working for alternate sources for powering Base Stations. These BTS eliminate the probability of power interruption on the operator’s part.

Fortunately, Pakistan is located in the sunny belt and can ideally utilize solar energy. The initiatives of VNL and the like suit to the situation of Pakistan’s less-populated rural areas particularly those of Balochistan and the Tribal Areas. In these areas population density is low and roads running hundreds of kilometer connect distant towns and villages. In such energy-deficient times of Pakistan’s history, there is an urgent need on government’s part to consider these environmentally-friendly and viable options.