subject: Texas Energy Solutions Company Looks To Solar Power [print this page] For countries suffering from severe energy deprivation, photovoltaic opportunities could be the perfect solution in providing backup power to various cell phone companies in Sierra Leone.
Glen Cox, Director of Engineering at a Celina-based full-service energy solutions provider, visited cell tower sites of companies that use a diesel generator to power a battery bank. The battery bank in turn powers the cell phone tower, and the diesel generator starts up to charge the batteries when the battery voltage gets low.
The company specializing in diesel, natural gas, HFO and renewable power station engineering is looking into building an integrated photovoltaic system that will charge the batteries during the day, which will provide substantial diesel fuel cost savings by reducing the run time of diesel generators. The cell phone towers that the Texas company visited have roughly three to seven days of battery backup power. With more than 200 cell phone towers, transporting diesel very often to so many locations can get pricey.
"It's very expensive to transport the diesel," Cox says, "when you consider the logistics, and the cost of transporting diesel -- it's huge."
Employing the use of photovoltaic panels capture the suns' energy throughout the day with photovoltaic cells. Battery banks can be used to generate electricity at night, and could result in big savings for emerging markets looking for environmentally friendly power solutions. The solar panels are typically made of silicone crystals, which are extracted from sand. Light energy is taken from the sun and converted into direct current or DC power. These solar panels absorb the sun's energy during the day and can even produce power on a cloudy day through solar irradiance, though not as high as when panels are in direct sunlight.
In many remote areas of Sierra Leone, diesel generators are the only source of power on site. Today, some of the largest markets for solar energy are in emerging markets. Solar energy may be increasing in popularity due to the "green movement." However, it's a technology that's been around for more than a century. The first photovoltaic effect began in 1839, while modern technologies were developed in the mid 1950s. Solar panels are continually being improved and are currently achieving efficiencies of over 25%.
Installing solar panels could result in a significant savings down the road. Right now, if the utilities in a country like Sierra Leone were reliable, power would be provided at 26 cents per kilowatt-hour, Cox says, while the cost for generating diesel could be 30 to 36 cents per kilowatt-hour. The solar panels can be looked upon as free energy because within three to five years, it starts paying for itself, Cox added.
"The amount of savings depends on the size of the solar panel installation, location and weather patterns but in general in countries such as Sierra Leone the savings is significant enough to produce a good return on investment. Because it's cheaper than diesel and requires very little maintenance, in some countries, solar is the preferred utility. For instance, India, the third-biggest energy user behind China and the U.S. plans to have an installed base of 20,000 megawatts of solar-energy capacity by 2020. There are even a number of benefits associated with solar power including company tax breaks, cheaper electricity bills and the ability to sell power back to the grid. In addition, solar power is easy to maintain and has a life span of about 25 years or more.
