Delivering cost savings and environmental

benefits with hybrid power

Joel Brunarie', George Myerscough'', Ake Nystrom' and Jan Ronsen
2
1 SAFT Industrial Battery Group, France
2Eltek Networks Solutions Group, United Arab Emirates
3 SAFT Industrial Battery Group, Sweden
E-mail: joel.brunarie@saftbatteries.com
Abstract - In the developing world electrical grids are still
unavailable in many areas, and when they are available their
reliability is sometime a major concern for telecom operators
who have wireless sites. The choice of a reliable method of
generating the power for those sites is of course vital for the
operation of the Base Transceiver Station, but this choice can
also have significant impact on the site operating costs. The
selection of the energy source can also impact the site's
environmental footprint at a time when the wireless industry is
striving to reduce C02 emissions to limit climate change.
In Sub-Saharan Africa for example, off-grid sites are usually
powered by two diesel generators operating alternately to ensure
a reliable power source. Such a solution, greedy in fuel, results in
high operating costs and, for the more remote sites, the refueling
and periodic maintenance of the generators creates logistical
problems and results in significant additional expenditure.
Hybrid systems, with a diesel generator combined with a
dedicated cycling battery operating alternately can reduce
operating costs for fuel and maintenance by up to 660/0, while
also cutting C02 emissions in the same range.
A complete hybrid system of this type will be packed in an
"energy container" to offer a turnkey solution for easy and quick
installation in more remote locations,
To ensure the lowest Total Cost of Ownership of the hybrid
solution, the different sub-systems such as genset, rectifier,
controller and battery must be carefully selected and sized to
permit the highest system efficiency.
The use of a battery technology with a proven high level of
reliability will allow a single diesel generator to be used. This will
maintain system reliability while reducing capital expenditure,
with part of the cost of the battery being covered by the
elimination of the second generator. The addition of solar panels
or possibly a wind turbine enable an increase in cycling time and
will consequently extend the calendar life of the battery and
generator while also increasing the environmental benefits.
This paper discusses technical aspects such as application
needs, complete system design and optimization, and advanced
battery, rectifier and controller choices. It also covers laboratory
testing to optimize the operating profile and field trials for
validation. Results of the different tests are also analyzed and
discussed. The paper also includes a Total Cost of Ownership
analysis of the hybrid system proposed in comparison to existing
systems with two diesel generators.
1. INTRODUCTION
Telecom operators have always looked for cost effective
solutions to support their development strategy; this is
particularly true in the developing countries where operators
need to deploy new networks to support a drastic growth in
subscribers while at the same time, in some countries,
anticipating a significant reduction in the average revenue per
user (Arpu). In the African market for example, telecom
experts are projecting that the rate of penetration should
increase by about 70% in the next four years to reach about
550 million subscribers (i.e. 55% of the population), yet at the
same time the Arpu will decrease by 10% to reach $10,30
(US) per month in 2011.
Telecom operators plan to develop their business by
increasing the number of subscribers in the emerging world
market. At the start of the zo" Century they focused on urban
areas, now they are targeting populations living in rural
regions. In these areas grid connectivity is very often
unavailable or when available, its reliability is a major concern.
Today, GSMA specialists conclude that to sustain the
deployment of new mobile networks, off-grid sites for Base
Transceiver Station will be prevalent in the developing regions.
More than 70 000 new stand-alone sites will be built each year
(see Fig.l ) mainly powered by diesel generators, as well as
alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power.

50,000 1 C I O . O C ~ 150,OOD 200,000 150,000 soo.cco

Fig.I. Annual growth for mobile sites in the Developing
regions over the period 2007-2012.
Competition within the mobile communications market is
growing dramatically. At the same time the global economy
has been shrinking and placing extra burdens on operators to
reduce both their CAPEX and OPEX in order to become more
competitive and to either retain or enlarge their market share.
This economic environment has prompted some of the major
operators to upgrade their existing stand-alone sites to
solutions less greedy in OPEX.
Global warming issues have also escalated over recent
times to such a high profile that globally organizations are
fighting to reduce the carbon emissions produced by fossil
fuels. This has now been acknowledged by the mobile
communications industry and the GSMA is now looking at
converting 118 000 existing and new base stations to green
solutions; thereby saving 2.7 billion liters of fuel annually.
II. REQUIREMENTS FOR STAND-ALONE TELECOM SITES
In the emerging world markets such as the Sub-Saharan
regions, South Asia and South America the reliability and the
availability of energy from a central source or grid is virtually
non-existent. Therefore, operators have been forced to provide
power from diesel generators as alternative energy sources
such as solar and wind power have been too expensive and too
difficult to deploy. These off-grid sites are usually powered by
two diesel generators operating alternately to ensure a reliable
power source. Sites in regions of unreliable grid power are
usually equipped with a single diesel generator; in some rural
regions of East Africa or in India the run time of the genset to
backup the mobile site can reach up to 12 hours a day.
A power system for off-grid sites equipped with
conventional fossil diesel-fuelled generators remains a simple
and low CAPEX solution with well known architecture,
multiple vendors for the sub-systems, and easy and quick
installation. But such sites have seen their operating costs
substantially increased in the last two years; diesel prices have
increased by up to 50% in many locations. For the more
remote sites, the refueling and periodic maintenance of the
generators create logistical problems and result in direct and
significant further increases in operating expenditure.
At the same time the global warming issue has persuaded
operators to implement programs to reduce the environmental
footprint of their telecom sites.
In response to this new environment, telecom vendors have
developed new generations of mobile equipment with a lower
power load, typically in a range of 0,6 to 1,0 kW. This
reduction in power has been made possible with the
development of new software to optimize the operating of the
radio modules, while the introduction of remote radio heads
and equipment with a higher tolerance to extreme
temperatures has permitted the reduction or, in some cases the
removal, of the air conditioning.
In parallel, the major operators in the developing world
have also been researching new power solutions for their
mobile sites to combine both significant savings in OPEX and
a drastic reduction in carbon emissions; the typical
requirements for these new solutions are (compared with
existing sites powered purely by fossil diesel):
Reduction in OPEX by more than 50%
Payback in less than 24 months
Reduction in carbon emissions by more than 50%
Lead time to implement a new site less than 3 weeks
III. DESCRIPTION OF THE HYBRID POWER SYSTEM
A. System Overview
Eltek NSG (ENS) in conjunction with SAFT has developed a
new turnkey hybrid power system with the addition of a
cycling nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) battery as the primary source
of power with the diesel generator providing the recharge
current. It is aimed at mobile operators in countries where grid
connectivity is not available or where centralized power is
unstable with diesel generators running for at least 30% of
each day. In addition to standard new build sites, this system
can also be used as a retrofit solution for existing BTS sites.
The individual site solutions are specifically designed to
meet the demands of the modem world to provide OPEX
savings of up to 85% whilst at the same time reducing the
carbon footprint of the site in the same range.
For the retrofit solution, the hybrid system proposed
presents a level of CAPEX that enables a return on investment
(RoJ) of 2 years or less.
The solution features a modular design. This enables it to
be sized to meet the immediate requirement and, if necessary,
to be expandable with minimal extra cost and material. The
solution is capable of expansion to include both solar and
wind options; the use of a renewable power source will further
decrease the generator running time and hence OPEX whilst
both will assist in reducing the carbon footprint of the GSM
sites. The addition of either or both will still give operators a
minimum energy backup time of six hours.
To ensure the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of
the hybrid solution, the different sub-systems such as battery,
generators, alternative source, rectifier and controller must be
carefully selected and sized to permit the highest system
efficiency and the best operating profile:
A complete hybrid system of this type will be
packaged in an "energy container" to offer a turnkey
solution for easy and quick installation in more
remote locations,
The cycling battery must be a temperature-resistant,
low-maintenance design, accept fast charging and
able to deliver a large number of charge-discharge
cycles,
The rectifier must offer the highest possible energy
efficiency,
The controller must be equipped with dedicated
software enabling the operating profile of the battery
and generator to be optimized, thus delivering the
lowest possible operating cost.
The addition of renewable energy sources as solar
panels or a wind turbine will permit an increase in
cycling time and consequently extend the calendar
life of the battery and generator while also increasing
the environmental benefits.
B. The Cycling Battery
Tubular gel/vented or valve regulated lead acid (VRLA)
batteries have long been used by carriers to power remote
locations, even though this battery technology has some
drawbacks that can present concerns, such as shorter life
expectancy at higher temperatures, necessity to over-size the
battery capacity or low reliability.
An alternative is the nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) battery that
offers a number of advantages over lead acid batteries and
may prove to be a smarter solution for carriers. Saft's
Sunica.plus design in particular offers a number of advantages
in hybrid applications such as accepting fast charging, long
cycling life and possibly its greatest advantage, the ability to
tolerate extremes in heat and cold without degradation of its
useful life
1) Chemistry of Sunica.plus and cells construction
Sunica.plus is a pocket plate nickel-cadmium cell,
consisting of two plate groups, one containing nickel
hydroxide (the positive plates) and one containing cadmium
hydroxide (the negative plates).
The active materials have been specially developed to
improve cycling ability at high temperatures at different State
of Charge (SoC) to meet the specific needs for photovoltaic
applications as demonstrated in Reference [1]. The active
material is retained in pockets formed from nickel plated steel,
double perforated and welded to a current carrying bus bar to
ensure the electrical and mechanical stability of the cell.
Terminal CD_rs
/- to prevent
Flame .rre.cing _nC plug
'/wlth-tra-nspoi-t- sea'- protection
H.ndle.
.>::

IIIDCk_CD"C"PC__
up to 10 cells ./
Cell cDnc.iner ./
made-of
Fig. 2. 6V - Sunica.plus block
The separator between the positive and negative plates is a
fibrous felt separator that provides the internal recombination
of hydrogen and oxygen to regain water and ensure low water
consumption. By providing a large spacing and generous
quantity of electrolyte between the plates, the possibility of
thermal runaway is eliminated and the cell can work with fast
recharging at high ambient temperatures.
The electrolyte is a solution of potassium hydroxide and
lithium hydroxide, optimized to give high cycling life and
energy efficiency over a wide temperature range (-20C to
+50C) - see Reference [2].
2) Electrical performance
Sunica.plus is optimized for the long discharge times
found typically in photovoltaic applications and its rating is
based on 120 h discharge. The cell type also meets the entire
requirement in IEC 62259 (standard for Ni-Cd cells with
partial gas recombination) for an L-type cell.
3) Sizing ofSunica.plus battery for Hybrid application
When choosing and designing a battery for a typical
telecom hybrid application a number of parameters must be
taken in to account, such as
Load
Available voltage window, typically 42 V to 57.5, but
may depend on the actual load and charging devices.
Available charging current (this parameter is
determined by the size of the Genset, the charging
device and the type of battery).
Charging parameters of the battery in relation to
chosen depth of discharge (000)
Type of charge / discharge controller
Requested maximum diesel running time per day
Backup time
Ambient temperature
Life of the battery (number of cycles)
The important parameter from the battery's point of view
is to achieve a good, stabilized state of charge (SoC) while
minimizing the diesel running time. With Sunica.plus this can
be obtained by working with shallow cycles, as the charge
efficiency of Sunica.plus is high under such conditions and
only a limited amount of overcharge (about 10%) is needed to
achieve a high stabilized SoC.
The second important issue is to recharge the battery as
quickly as possible to reduce the diesel running time. As the
negative electrode in a pocket nickel-cadmium cell has
slightly higher charge efficiency compared to the positive
electrode, the negative electrode will reach a higher SoC first.
When the negative electrode reaches a high SoC the voltage
over the negative will increase and, at limited available charge
voltages, the battery charger will reach its voltage limit and
the charge current will fall to a low value. The required
overcharge to get the positive electrode charged to a good SoC
will consequently take place at a low current and the charging
time will become "unnecessarily" long, mainly due to the
limited voltage window available in typical telecom
applications. This obstacle can be overcome by increasing the
available voltage window - i.e. by introduction of a DC/DC-
converter. This DC/DC-converter enables the battery to be
charged by a constant current charge at a fairly high charge
current - i.e. 0.2C
s
.
Based on a number of tests, two different profiles have been
developed, with and without a DC/DC-converter. The profiles
and settings are presented below.
Data for the two test cases:
Maximum diesel running time at maximum load:
40%
Maximum load: 2000 W
Maximum voltage: 57.7 V
Minimum voltage:42 V
Ambient temperature: 35C
Stabilised SoC: > 85 %
The charge and discharge controller is set up to always
allow a predefined amount of ampere hours to be discharged,
followed by a recharge with a preset charging time defined to
obtain the required amount of overcapacity. By controlling the
discharge by ampere hour counting, the discharge time will be
longer during periods with low load on the BTS. It must be
noted that the load on a BTS is seldom at the maximum level.
During periods with low load the relative diesel generator
operating time will become less as the recharge time is
constant. Should the battery voltage fall to the minimum level
the diesel engine will be started and run for 24 h to fully
recharge the battery.
1,65.-----------------------------,
1,60
1,55
1,50
1,45
1,40
1,35
1,30
1,25
1,20
Fig. 4. Cell voltage between cycles 1700 and 1800 after one year cycling
with parameters as above ( Note the stabilized end of discharge voltage).
The test result verifies that during one year of cycling with
the maximum specified load the simulated diesel generator
running time has been less than 50%
1,10+---------------------------1
1,05+------------------------------1
1,15+------------------------------1
1,00
b) Battery for configuration with DC/DC converters
By introducing a DC/DC-converter the available voltage
window can be extended. The DC/DC-converter is used to
step-up the battery voltage to a level convenient for the
telecom load, keeping the maximum voltage level as previous,
so as not to exceed the safe limit for the system with regard to
the risk of electric shock.
By introducing the DC/DC-converter, the number of cells
can be reduced, enabling a sufficiently high charging voltage
so that a constant current charge can be sustained during the
whole charge process - hence the period with low charge
current can be avoided. For a 2 kW load, a battery string
composed with only 32 SUN+ 555 (C
120
= 555 Ah and C, =
512 Ah) will allow the diesel generator run time to be
decreased to below 36% at the full load. To limit the amount
of gas generated during the final part of the charging it is
recommended to reduce the charge current to 0.2It, which will
also limit the size of the charging equipment and the peak load
on the diesel generator. As the end voltage is lower a higher
000 can be used. This higher 000 must be compensated by a
slightly higher recharge factor. The settings for the application
are then;
Depth of discharge (000) = 27 % or 138.2 Ah
Charge = 110 % or 152.1 Ah
The parameters below can be calculated;
Discharge time: 160 min
Charge current: 100 A or 0.21
t
Recharge time = 91 minutes
Diesel running time = 36 %
Maximum charge voltage = 1.803 V/cell
Minimum cell voltage = recommended to be below
1.1 V/cell (i.e. about 35 V for the battery string).
Number of cycles per day at maximum load = 5.8 and
about 4 cycles at 60% of the peak load (See Fig. 6)
With 7 000 available cycles at +35 C the estimated life is
then 4,8 years at 60 % of the peak load.
_ 0,40
0,35
- -
__ 0,30
- - -
___ -0,05
===0,20
- --
- --
- - - 0,15
0,10

__ 0,05 u

02:30
[h:min)
- - - - \= --


____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ -0,10
------ ------ ------ --- ------ ---
------ ------ ------ --- ------ ---
-0,15
- --
_ 0,45
------ ------ ------ --- ------ ---
1,15 - - - - -
1,55 - - - - - -

1,00 -l----l----l----l----l----l---+---+---+---+-----+-0,20
00:00 05:00
1,40
1,35
1,10
1,05
1,65.------.------.------.------.------.------r---r---r---r--------r
1,50 __ _
1,45 +---+-----+-----+-----+------t----1<----++--+-----+------+--------+ 0,25
a) Battery for Simple Hybrid configuration
With a battery string of 36 SUN+ 555 (C
120
= 555 Ah and
C
s
= 512 Ah) connected in series, the requested diesel running
time can be reached. The settings for the application are then:
Depth of discharge (000) = 22 % or 112.6 Ah
Charge = 108 % or 121.6 Ah
The parameters below can be calculated
Discharge time: 150 min
Recharge time = 144 minutes
Diesel running time = 49 %
Maximum charge voltage = 1.603 V/cell
Minimum cell voltage = 1.167 V/cell
Charge current: 200 A or 0.391
t
Number of cycles per day at maximum load = 4.9
With 7000 cycles available at 22% 000 and at an ambient
temperature of +35 C the estimated life of the battery is then
4 years at the peak load and above 5 years at 60 to 70% of the
peak load.
The following figures (Fig. 3 & 4) show the results from
laboratory tests with the profile described above. In this
charging configuration we observe a low charge current after
the cell voltage reaches the maximum available charge voltage
Fig. 3. Cycling profile with Sunica.plus at +30C.
Cycling at 22% DoD; Discharge current =0.088It;
Available charge voltage is 1.60 V/cell; Available charge current is OAIt
The consequence of this low charge current is that the
diesel generator run time has to be long to recharge the cell. It
must also be noted that during this period the actual loading of
the generator is low, and it might suffer from the problems
associated with running a diesel engine at low load for long
periods.
I
.-
~ . -
;

-

1,90 0,25
1,80 0,20
1,70 0,15
1,60
1,50 0,05
1,40
1,30 -0,05
1,20 -0,10
1,10 -0,15
Fig. 5. Sunica.plus cell voltage and current evolution during
a charge at constant current.
[h:min]
Lower diesel generator run times can easily be obtained by
increasing the battery size. The real run time, fig 6, will
become lower as the average load on the BTS is normally
lower than the maximum load.
c. The Generator
Currently, the majority of stand-alone sites powered by
diesel generators are equipped with two engines working
alternately. The size of these generators varies according to
the sizing of equipment but is usually in a range from 10kVA
through to 120 kVA.
In addition to the fuel cost to run these generators 24 hours
a day, the servicing of the engines can also have a serious
impact on the site operating costs with, in some cases, service
intervals required every 250 hours.
To optimize the costs we have selected a range of water
cooled mounted gensets from Lister Petter, including an
electronic control module. The service interval is more than
1000 operational running hours and the system is furnished
with two fuel tanks as standard, one 600 liters fuel tank under
the generator and a 4500 liters independent tank with locking
filler cap for easy access from outside.
For a typical BTS site with a load around 2 kW a standard
27 kVA genset will be provided.
---
~
~ - - -
~
~
./
~
. / ~
V
V
Fig. 6. Diesel running time at partial load
Fig. 7. 27 kVA Genset with Acoustic set
D. The rectifier
The use of DC power has long been the standard in
telecommunications networks. It was selected for its
reliability, safety, and ability to be paired with battery systems
to provide continuous backup power. As with any power
conversion technique, there are associated inefficiencies as
electricity is converted to waste heat in the conversion
process. The rectifiers used in DC power systems have
improved dramatically with respect to efficiency.
Rectifiers in a DC power system take AC input from the
public utility network and deliver a regulated DC voltage to
operate telecommunications equipment and to charge the
backup batteries. The typical DC power system voltage is
48V, although 12 V, 24 V, 130 V and others are used in some
applications.
Switch mode rectifier technology was introduced in the
late 1970s, and was a revolution with respect to the power
density and efficiency that it enabled. Typical efficiency for
these first-generation switch-mode power supplies was in the
85% range, operating at 20 kHz switching frequency.
Switch mode technology has continued to advance. During
the 1990s, MOSFET technology, together with improved soft
switching topologies and control solutions, enabled
significantly higher switching frequency and partly lossless
switching. This has resulted in further improvements in power
density and efficiency.
To increase the global efficiency of the hybrid power
system, we have selected the Flatpack2 HE rectifier from
Eltek Valere that offers a efficiency up to 96,5% and a 50%
reduction in losses compared to the current industry standard.
E. The controller
The control unit is the key to the system since it enables
the efficient monitoring of the battery charge levels, the
optional solar panels and wind turbines and the generator to
ensure that the site load requirements are met whilst
minimizing the generator run time.
The system is configured so that the controller monitors
the available power sources and then brings them into
operation in a defined order as follows:
800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
Load [W]
600 400 200
0%
40%
15%
z
~ 30%
Cl
. ~ 25%
2
3l
20
%
is
35%
10%
45%
50%
5%
The wind turbine or the solar panels are set as the
primary source of energy and are monitored to ensure
availability to provide for the site load,
In the absence of sufficient energy from the primary
source of supply, the batteries are used as the primary
source of power and are monitored to ensure that they
only discharge to 27 % prior to recharge,
When the batteries reach 27 % DoD the generator is
started and provides the recharge current and the site
load
In the event that the generator fails to start the site
load reverts to the batteries and an alarm is raised.
The remaining 73 % charge is calculated to last for a
minimum of6 hours of backup
If there is power from a national grid for a period of
time during the day it is monitored and, when
available is provided as the supply to the site load.
This prolongs the time taken for the batteries to
discharge and hence reduces the daily consumption of
diesel.
F. The alternative power sources
This hybrid power system utilises a vertical axis wind
turbine (VAWT) as opposed to the horizontal axis turbines
most generally seen, as these have a lower wind speed cut in,
are more able to sustain power at high wind speeds and do not
need to have mechanical braking systems. In addition, they
can be more easily deployed on GSM sites due to the shape of
the Savonius rotors and have no horizontal wind loading so
they can be mounted on GSM towers.
On hybrid sites the VAWT will delay the discharge of the
batteries and therefore increase the aPEX benefits. Its size is
dependent on the site power requirements; on sites where the
VAWT is considered as the primary power source it is sized
sufficiently large to power the site and recharge the batteries.
The standard variants are 2 kW, 4 kW, 10 kW and an extra
large 20 kW variant.
"
Fig. 8. A 3,75 kW rated power vertical axis wind turbine
from Helix Wind
Average winds speed from 7 mls and above offer end user a
significant energy production level; for a 2 kW BTS, a
3,75kW rated power VAWT has the potential to generate up to
45 % of the annual energy needs when the average wind speed
reach 10 mls. Ultimately the performance of the turbine
depends on the wind regime at the precise position of the
turbine.
G. Description ofthe complete system
1) Site layout
ENS has kept the hybrid power system layout as simple as
possible for easy installation. All containers can be delivered
on site as soon as the tower/container foundation is cast and
backfilling completed.
The site is designed so that it can be adapted for either the
deployment of indoor BTS or outdoor BTS or a mix of both
(for up to 4 operators). The footprint for the BTS shelters or
cabinets is 2.2 m x 2.2 m. Fig.9 below shows a diagram of the
generic site layout.
Generic Site Layout - Plan View
Fig. 9. Generic hybrid power system layout
2) Implementation details
Material Logistics and Packaging
The container is prewired and labeled with the layout in
accordance with the customer requirements. The container is
packed with the following equipment:
- Generator
- DB (including all wiring)
- Fuel tank (including all separators and plumbing)
- Site fencing
Tower (maximum height included in container 45 m)
- Antennas (if required)
The container will be shipped to the country where the
proj ect is located and stored in a warehouse until the site is
ready for it to be installed and the tower erected.
This saves time and allows complete quality inspections to
be carried out by ENS and the telecom operator in the
warehouse, resulting in fewer problems once the system has
been dispatched to site.
SITE PREPARATION
All sites are cleared and leveled in accordance with
customer requirements and specifications. holding down bolts
(HDBs) and tower templates are sent to the site so that
foundation works can be carried out.
Once the foundations have been cast and backfilling
completed, the container complete with all equipment is
dispatched to the site, this takes place during the curing
period. Therefore, fewer trips to the warehouse are needed and
risk of material loss or damage is reduced.
FOUNDATION
All foundations are constructed in accordance to
engineering specifications as per the design. Standards are in
accordance to the customer specifications.
DISPATCHING AND TESTING
Containers are dispatched with all internal wiring
completed and generator and fuel lines fitted. The advantage
of this is that all wiring and fuel lines can be tested before the
container is dispatched, therefore avoiding serious installation
issues on site which can delay the site becoming operational.
DC cabling and rectifiers can also be tested and fitted
before the container is dispatched.
TOWER ERECTIONAND CONTAINER PLACEMENT
Tower erection takes place in accordance to customer and
manufacturer specifications. Tower erection can commence 24
hours after the placement of the container(s), this gives the
riggers enough time to unpack and inspect the tower.
Where indoor units are required the indoor shelters are
deployed and erected on an as required basis.
IV. FIELD TESTING
It is clear that a suitable hybrid system, combining
advanced Ni-Cd cycling battery with a high efficiency rectifier
and a 'low maintenance' diesel generator, with all sub-systems
monitored by an optimized control unit, can meet the site load
requirements while minimizing the generator run time.
Therefore, it was decided to build and test such a hybrid
system under real on-site operating conditions.
A. Site description
To carry out a full field test of the hybrid solution in the
field, the deployment of a trial site in Shagamu, Lagos in
Nigeria was commissioned. This location was selected for a
number of reasons, but primarily it was due to the initial
interest being expressed by the various operators in Nigeria.
To test the system at its fullest capability it was assumed
that the grid was not available and a dummy load of a constant
2 kW was used to simulate the site working at 100% capacity
for a period of two months.
The site layout was a containerized solution with the
generator housed within the container and the rectifier cabinet
and batteries placed on a rack on the open platform. This was
done to demonstrate that the batteries would operate
effectively at the ambient daytime temperature of 35C, as
well as within varying temperatures, without any degradation.
The deployed equipment consisted of the following:
Saft 36*SUN+ 555 Ni-Cd Batteries
Eltek Valere Flatpack 2 HE - 48 V and 2000 Watts
rectifier system comprising:
Outdoor Power Cabinet 200 W/K Hex,
FP2-2 KW Modules
Eltek Valere Smartpack Control Unit
Lister Pitter Delta 27 kVa Generator with 600 1fuel
tank
Fig.IO. Picture of the trial site in Lagos including the SUN+ battery bank,
rectifier cabinet and generator
B. Test Protocol
The Sunica.plus battery type 36 SUN+ 555 batteries were
set as the primary source of power, with the generator as the
secondary source for provision of power to the site and for
recharging the batteries.
The level of charge of the batteries was monitored so that
when they had discharged to 27 % 000, the generator was
started to take over and provide the recharge current. Once the
batteries were back to full charge the system switched the
power source back to the batteries.
This cycle was repeated over the two months duration of
the test, although on one occasion the generator was prevented
from starting to allow the batteries to fully discharge to
ascertain the backup time available in the event of such a
failure in real time. This also enabled the maximum recharge
time for 100% recharge to be calculated and verified.
A test protocol was established taking into account the
specific needs of the application, with the aim of validating the
following operational issues;
- Interfacing all the sub-systems with the control unit,
Stability of the battery voltage at the end of the
discharges over the period of two months,
Running time of the diesel generator
Ability of the system to recharge the battery after a
full discharge to simulate a non-starting of the genset.
The records listed included the following:
Date and time stamp
Reading number
Battery voltage
Battery recharge current
AC input
Temperature
Load current
100 ----- ~ - -
100 ------+-1--1-----
250 ---------------------------------
OPEX costs for standard diesel
~
I(Dowered bv two diesel enzlnes)
Generator size 27
Liters perhour 3.82
Costperliter(USD) 1
Fuel costperannum (USD) $33,463
Generator service interval (hrs) 250
vice cost(USD) 250
Generator service costperannum
(USD) $8,760
Total aPEX/year $42,223
OPEX costs for Hvbrid Power
~
Batterv SUN+ Genset) 100% Load 80% Load 65% Load
Generator size (kVA) 27 27 27
!Liters perhour 3.82 3.82 3.82
Cost perliter(USD) 1 1 1
Fuel costperannum (USD) $8,365 $6,037 $4,960
Generator service interval (hrs) 250 250 250
Generator service cost(USD) 250 250 250
Generator service costperannum
I(USD) $2,190 $1,580 $1,298
Total aPEX/year $10,555 $7,617 $6,258
OPEX savinzs ner site
Yearly Savings inUSD $31,668 $34,606 $35,965
% saving onaPEXperyear 75.0% 81.9% 85.1%
TABLE I
EXAMPLE OFaPEXCOST COMPARISON
PURE DIESEL VERSUS HYBRID POWER WITH SUNICA.PLUS
The addition of a wind turbine or possibly solar panels will
enable an increase in cycling time. This will permit a
subsequent reduction in the hybrid system OPEX through a
combination of reduced fuel consumption and the extension of
the battery's calendar life.
Generator Run Times ,!,ClnplItl'.';
50 -----+-1...-.----
Fig. 11. Generator runtime profile over24 hours
Overall the generator was running for 6 hrs per day, with
the batteries as the primary power source for 18 hrs per day.
The test site was found to operate within a 5% tolerance
of the theoretical calculations, and gave a fuel saving of 75%
over a similar site using generators only at a 100% site load
per day.
As the site load varies according to call usage patterns,
and generally averages around 60% to 70% of the maximum
load, it can be assumed that the savings will be substantially
more.
With a higher rated battery, Sunica.plus battery type
SUN+ 730 for example, the OPEX savings will be even
greater although the initial CAPEX will also be higher.
150 ----+...-.----
C. Results and conclusion ofthe test
The results of the test were then collated into charts on a
daily spreadsheet that shows the generator run time based on
the AC input readings. The following is an example of the
daily charts.
V. COSTANALYSIS OFTHE HYBRID SYSTEM PROPOSED
The hybrid power system has been designed as a modular
system, allowing operators to configure the system for the
minimum requirement and then expand as required with
minimal extra cost and equipment. The use of Ni-Cd battery
technology with a proven high level of reliability will allow a
single diesel generator to be used; this will maintain system
reliability while reducing capital expenditure, with part of the
cost of the battery being covered by the elimination of the
second generator.
As shown in Table I, the hybrid power solution developed
by ENSG with a SAFT Ni-Cd cycling battery not only
enables the annual fuel cost of each site to be reduced by up to
75 % and more, it also allows a significant reduction in the
generator service costs by increasing the life of the engines
and reducing maintenance requirements.
VI. ENVIRONMENTALBENEFITS
The impact of air pollution and global climate change are
becoming increasingly important topics throughout the world
and international organizations are fighting to reduce the
carbon emissions produced by fossil fuel.
The telecommunications industry is a major energy user
and there is a growing commitment within the industry to
reduce energy consumption and the associated emission of
greenhouse gases. Major companies have explicitly stated
their social and environmental responsibility for managing
natural resources in their corporate policy. Energy
conservation has become apriority.
As can be seen from the graphical representation below,
(TABLE II) using hybrid systems with a Sunica.plus battery
can reduce C02 emissions drastically.
TABLE II
EXAMPLE OF C02 SAVINGS WITH A HYBRID POWER SYSTEM IN
COMPARISON WITH A PURE DIESEL SITE
2.5kW 6 kW 12 kW 24kW
System System System System
Ooerational
Details
!DailyGenerator 8.25h 9h 9h 11.75 h
Operation
Daily Battery 15.75 h 15 h 15 h 12.25 h
Operation/
C0
2
Savinas 58 tons 56 tons 58 tons 42 tons
lI!erxear
Over a five year operating period, corresponding
approximately to the life duration of the Ni-Cd battery and of
the genset in such a hybrid application, the reduction in the
C02 emission for a 2 kW mobile site with this hybrid power
system will be higher than 200 tons; this 200 tons should be
compared with about only 2,7 tons of equivalent C02 for the
"cradle-to-grave" global warming potential of a string of
48 V- SUN+ 555 - from the extraction of metals at the mine
to the production of materials to be used in the manufacturing
of batteries and recycling, - i.e. not more than 1,3 % of the
total savings in C02 emission.
The addition of a wind turbine or possibly solar panels will
emphasise this reduction in C02 with an increase in cycling
time.
VII. CONCLUSIONS
The test has confirmed that the use of a nickel-cadmium
cycling battery in a hybrid power solution provides greater
benefits and an overall better solution than the use of tubular
gel/vented or VRLA technology:
aPEX reductions - Diesel consumption and generator
maintenance are reduced by between 50% and 85%
Improved battery efficiency - by using Sunica.plus
technology the batteries can recycle up to 7000 times
allowing for greater cycling and enhanced life time of
approximately 5 years
Improved generator efficiency - the generator runs at
optimal loading due to the requirement to recharge
the Sunica.plus batteries when running; this reduces
the low load operation glazing problems on standard
sites and eliminates the requirement for dummy loads
and reduces unnecessary diesel consumption
Carbon footprint reductions - the carbon footprint of
the site is reduced by an average of >60%
Additional benefits - these include an increase in the
site ARPU and a reduction in replacement costs for
batteries and generators
It has been demonstrated that a turnkey hybrid power
system developed by ENSG in conjunction with SAFT
provides an aPEX reducing solution for mobile operators that
can be deployed either as a new site or a retrofit build; the
solution is scalable such that operators can chose between
CAPEX expenditure and aPEX savings.
The new site solution comes complete with container, tower
and power solutions that reduce the footprint of the site, the
annual aPEX and the carbon emissions from the site:
Site footprint - the footprint of the site is reduced by
more than 40% on a standard site making acquisition
easier and further reducing aPEX
Ease of deployment - the ESS can be easily
transported to site and deployed in greater than 35%
less time than a standard build site reducing the time
taken to get the site "on air".
Security - by placing the generator and fuel tank
inside the container it is secured against theft and
vandalism. The container itself is protected against
corrosion and weathering.
For retrofit sites the ESS is provided as a power solution
that reduces aPEX and Carbon Emissions whilst giving an
optimal return on investment (Rol) in 2 years or less.
REFERENCES
[1] Elisabeth Lemaire-Potteau, Florence Mattera, Arnaud Delaille, Philippe
Malbranche, "Assessment of Storage Ageing in Different Types of PV
Systems: Technical and Economical Aspects" - 23
rd
Photovoltaic Solar
Energy Conference, September 2008 - Valencia, Spain.
[2] Arnaud Delaille, Florence Mattera, Ake Nystrom, Charles Streb,
"Characterization of Advanced Nickel-Cadmium Batteries Developed
for Photovoltaic Applications" - 23
rd
Photovoltaic Solar Energy
Conference, September 2008 - Valencia, Spain