Solar PV for Telecom Towers – Promising Business Opportunity in India

India is presently one of the largest telecom markets in the world, second only to China, with 250,000 mobile phone towers serving over 670 million subscribers. Factor in the country’s advancing Solar photovoltaic (PV) initiative, the National Solar Mission, and the fact that power and fuel expenditures account for 35% of the operating cost of each mobile phone tower, and one can easily deduce that solar PV and telecom should develop a more symbiotic working relationship. Such a relationship would result in a better overall telecom business model, especially since both factors (PV and telecom) are key elements in India's future growth and role as a global innovator.

That deduction would be wise. Solar (PV) for India’s vast proliferation of telecom towers, as demonstrated below, is the proverbial ‘writing on the wall.’ As it well should be.

Is such proliferation of telecom towers realistically sustainable?

The CAGR in the past 5 years is about 31% and this figure is likely to grow almost 1.5 times in the coming 5 years. Analysts estimate that by 2015 India will have nearly one billion users and they will be served by about 554,000 transmission towers, 30% of them in rural regions.

Power and fuel are, as mentioned, the primary expenditures which account for 35% of operating costs, both for passive components (such as steel towers, base tower station shelter, power supply system, etc.); and active components (such as spectrum, switches, and antennas).  BTS requires un-interrupted power in order to serve the signals continuously. Due to the unreliability of electricity in India, Diesel Generators are used as back-up in a Hybrid mode. India, as a net importer of crude oil, faces an inherent dilemma in that its Diesel is linked to International pricing and presently is close to €¢ 70 per litre, with each litre providing approximately 3.5kWh, yielding a cost of about €¢20/kWh. Furthermore, the Diesel supply in most of India’s rural areas is uncertain, at best. This makes use of Solar (PV) power ideal as a supplementary source; and, in fact, the best solution for continued sustenance. The implementation of Solar PV as the primary supplemental source in this realm could also, potentially, solve other problems related to diesel. (The total carbon emissions released by the current diesel generators is the equivalent of 5.3 million tons a year.)