scholarly journals HOMER Analysis of the Feasibility of Solar Power for GSM Base Transceiver Stations Located in Rural Areas

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 42-45
Author(s):  
Eko James Akpama ◽  
Godwin Ukam Uno

The recent explosion in the deployment of cellular networks across the globe has brought two very pertinent issues to the forefront of academic and technical discuss: the energy cost of running the networks, and the associated environmental impact. Cellular networks have made the greatest impact in developing countries where availability of electric power is mostly unreliable. Telecommunication networks on the other hand, are critical infrastructures which require assured power 24/7, and this power is provided at very great financial cost and damaging exchanges with the environment. In all, renewable energy technology appears to hold the most reliable solution to this lingering impasse. The authors in this paper used the HOMER® software to access or demonstrate the feasibility of deploying solar PV in providing power for BTS in rural areas as a long term solution to the near absence of grid electricity in rural areas.  

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tegenu Argaw Woldegiyorgis

Currently, the main energy source used in rural areas of Ethiopia for cooking and heating is unprocessed biomass and fossil fuel such as kerosene, paraffin and petrol/diesel. These energy sources generate large volume of indoor air pollution that increases the risk of chronic diseases. Solar energy is the most practical and economical way of bringing power to poor and remote communities in the long-term and Ethiopia is strategically located in a maximum sun shines hours zone. This study assessed the potential of a solar PV power system to provide the required electricity for a rural community near Nekemte city in Oromiya regions of Ethiopia. The sunshine hour’s data was obtained from the National Meteorological Service Agency (NMA). Results showed an abundant (average) solar energy potential of 5.52 KWh/m2/day. Electric load for a single household, school and clinic was estimated at 313, 2064 and 2040 Wh/day respectively. The cost of energy from solar PV system was estimated at about $1.2/kWh, $0.92/kWh and $0.87/KWh for household, school and clinic respectively. The findings encourage the use of the PV systems to electrify the remote sites of Ethiopia considering it long-term benefits and less cost of installation compared to national grid extension to the remote sites.


2018 ◽  
pp. 25-38
Author(s):  
Liudmila Kalinichenko

The article analyses the role of renewable energy in the process of the development of the energy market of the East African Community (EAC) . The author underlines the necessity of finding solutions for such challenges as rising wood and charcoal prices, deforestation, lack of affordable and reliable electricity for a large number of consumers. The study reveals that nowadays the percentage of people with access to modern sources of energy is very low, varying from 7 % in Burundi to 36% in Kenya, although the EAC countries made significant progress in 2000s. Most people in rural areas rely on traditional biomass for cooking and heating, which leads to ecological and health problems. The author concludes that renewable energy development is considered by the Community as one of the prospective ways for providing energy to remote regions in view of abundant solar, wind and geothermal resources. Their strategy aims at the construction of micro and mini hydro stations, stand-alone solar PV systems and off-grids for rural population usage. The study shows that the investment in off-grid renewables has been steadily rising in recent times . Analyzing grid-connected power generation electricity, the author elicits that it is also based on renewable electricity, which accounts for 65% of the total amount. Kenya, with the highest installed capacity in this sector, is investing mainly in geothermal, solar and wind sources of energy, while the others are focusing on hydropower and solar. For the purpose of attracting private investment, the EAC partner states adopted different regulations, including Feed-in Tariff, zero-VAT and GET FIT Programme. The author assumes that renewable energy financing is one of the main challenges despite the support of different international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, UNIDO, AfDB and others. Nowadays energy efficiency measures are becoming important instruments for the EAC countries resulted in power savings. The other important trend is increasing cooperation among them due to their grid-connected power systems in the East African Power Pool. In this context, in November 2017, the EAC Partner States adopted Energy Security Policy Framework, in order to ensure the sustainable development of their energy sector.


Author(s):  
Sinh C. Lam ◽  
Kieu T. Nguyen

Background & Objective: In this work, we introduced a mathematical network model which follows on the recommendations of 3GPP to evaluate the downlink Long Term Evolution (LTE) network utilizing Strict Frequency Reuse (FR) scheme. The network modelling bases on the establishment phase and communications of the FR scheme. The user average coverage probability is derived and analysed under Rayleigh fading environment and furthermore the closed-form formulations of the performance are found using Gauss Quadratures. Through the Monte Carlo simulation, it is proved that the proposed analytical approach is more accurate than other approaches in the literature. Conclusion: Furthermore, this paper stated that the overall system can achieve the better performance with a higher number of Cell-Edge Users (CEUs), which contrasts with other works in the literature.


Algorithms ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Qiuqi Han ◽  
Guangyuan Zheng ◽  
Chen Xu

Device-to-Device (D2D) communications, which enable direct communication between nearby user devices over the licensed spectrum, have been considered a key technique to improve spectral efficiency and system throughput in cellular networks (CNs). However, the limited spectrum resources cannot be sufficient to support more cellular users (CUs) and D2D users to meet the growth of the traffic data in future wireless networks. Therefore, Long-Term Evolution-Unlicensed (LTE-U) and D2D-Unlicensed (D2D-U) technologies have been proposed to further enhance system capacity by extending the CUs and D2D users on the unlicensed spectrum for communications. In this paper, we consider an LTE network where the CUs and D2D users are allowed to share the unlicensed spectrum with Wi-Fi users. To maximize the sum rate of all users while guaranteeing each user’s quality of service (QoS), we jointly consider user access and resource allocation. To tackle the formulated problem, we propose a matching-iteration-based joint user access and resource allocation algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can significantly improve system throughput compared to the other benchmark algorithms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3364
Author(s):  
Amr Zeedan ◽  
Abdulaziz Barakeh ◽  
Khaled Al-Fakhroo ◽  
Farid Touati ◽  
Antonio S. P. Gonzales

Soiling losses of photovoltaic (PV) panels due to dust lead to a significant decrease in solar energy yield and result in economic losses; this hence poses critical challenges to the viability of PV in smart grid systems. In this paper, these losses are quantified under Qatar’s harsh environment. This quantification is based on experimental data from long-term measurements of various climatic parameters and the output power of PV panels located in Qatar University’s Solar facility in Doha, Qatar, using a customized measurement and monitoring setup. A data processing algorithm was deliberately developed and applied, which aimed to correlate output power to ambient dust density in the vicinity of PV panels. It was found that, without cleaning, soiling reduced the output power by 43% after six months of exposure to an average ambient dust density of 0.7 mg/m3. The power and economic loss that would result from this power reduction for Qatar’s ongoing solar PV projects has also been estimated. For example, for the Al-Kharasaah project power plant, similar soiling loss would result in about a 10% power decrease after six months for typical ranges of dust density in Qatar’s environment; this, in turn, would result in an 11,000 QAR/h financial loss. This would pose a pressing need to mitigate soiling effects in PV power plants.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 942-943
Author(s):  
Shannon Freeman ◽  
Aderonke Abgoji ◽  
Alanna Koopmans ◽  
Christopher Ross

Abstract A consequence of the strict visitor restrictions implemented by many Long-term Care Facilities (LTCFs), during the COVID-19 pandemic, was the exacerbation of loneliness and social isolation felt by older adult residents. While there had been a shift by some persons to utilize digital solutions to mitigate the effects of the imposed social isolation, many facilities did not have sufficient information regarding available solutions to implement institutional strategies to support social connectedness through digital solutions. To support our partners in evidence-based policy-making we conducted a scoping review to identify existing virtual technology solutions, apps, and platforms feasible to promote social connectedness among persons residing in a long-term care facility context during times of lockdown such as experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initial identification of relevant literature involved a combination of keywords and subject headings searches within 5 databases (PubMed, CINAHL EBSCO, PsychINFO EBSCO, Embase OVIDSP, and Web of Science ISI). DistillerSR was used to screen, chart and summarize the data. There is growth in the availability of technologies focused on promoting health and well-being in later life for persons in long-term care facilities however a gap remains in widespread uptake. We will describe the breadth of technologies identified in this review and discuss how they vary in utility in smaller scale facilities common in rural areas. Of the technologies that can be used to mitigate the impacts of social isolation felt by long-term care residents, many “solutions” depend on stable highspeed internet, which remains a challenge in rural and northern areas.


2021 ◽  
pp. 073346482110236
Author(s):  
Regina A. Shih ◽  
Esther M. Friedman ◽  
Emily K. Chen ◽  
Grace C. Whiting

Objectives To estimate the national prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of gray market utilization, consisting of paid providers who are unrelated to the recipient, not working for a regulated agency, and potentially unscreened and untrained, for aging and dementia-related long-term care. Methods We surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,037 American Life Panel respondents aged 18 years and older. Results Nearly a third of Americans who arranged paid care sought gray market care for persons with dementia, and most (65%) combined it with unpaid care. Respondents who arranged gray market care had 66% lower odds of currently working, and those living in rural areas had an almost 5-times higher odds of arranging dementia gray market care. Discussion Gray market care represents a substantial proportion of paid, long-term care for older adults and may fill gaps in access to care.


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