Vodacom builds base stations powered by solar and wind power in Vleiland Valley

Greentech Lead Africa: Vodacom, a GSM cellular operator
in South Africa, has installed base stations powered by solar and wind power in
a small farming community in the Vleiland Valley.

The green base station will improve network coverage in
the area. The community is situated in a valley between two mountains, which
has made it difficult to receive network coverage.  Until now, farmers
relied upon costlier satellite phones to communicate. Operators were reluctant
to address these concerns as the community here is very small.

Vodacom has designed two hybrid-type sites to address the
challenging conditions of the mountain range, as well as the ability to operate
the station without access to grid electricity. This is the first time that
this technology is being used on the African continent.

“Our commitment is to ensure that most South
Africans have access to cellphone technology and also to ensure that our
operation is built on sound principles of sustainability. In finding a solution
for the community of Vleiland Valley, we applied base station technology in a
manner that has never been used on the continent before,” said Andries
Delport, chief technology officer for Vodacom.

The network, powered by solar and wind energy, can also
be used to automate farm operated pumps, dam levels and irrigation systems.
This will give both farmers and the community the ability to farm more
effectively.

Terzobix, a small company based in Cape Town that designs
and manufactures all-in-one renewable and hybrid power systems, supplied the
unique green technology for the hybrid sites.

The green
base stations use technology that uses solar tracking and
wind power. The units can be adapted for future expansion. The solar
tracking system uses a program which operates the panels using international
GPS coordinates to move the panels and align with the sun’s movements.

Solar tracking has several benefits. It reduces planning
and design time as solar tracking needs very little upfront array placement
studies, which also further reduces costs. The size of the panel is about 34
percent smaller than a conventional solar panel as less surface area is
required to reach maximum power.

editor@greentechlead.com