Storage batteries play an incredibly powerful role in modern society. They are literally everywhere we go, from remembering the bios settings in our computers to providing backup in our data centers. Today we turn the spotlight on the essential batteries powering cellular towers. Because they are far from our thoughts until the grid goes down, and we pray they will last.
Batteries in Cellular Base Station Towers
A cellular base station tower shares signals with cellular devices that home in on it. It hosts several electrical / electronic devices including transmitters / receivers, digital signal processors, control electronics, and backup electrical power sources. A number of providers operating on different frequencies often share these facilities.
Cellular base station towers are fixed installations in urban areas, although remote ones in rural spaces often interconnect them. Grid electricity enters through battery sets that smooth it, and provide backup. However, some towers are so remote they operate independently on renewable energy from the wind and the sun.
Essential batteries powering these cellular towers kick in when the grid goes down, or the sun sets for the night. It’s hard to imagine how our data-driven society could operate without these simple devices. For how else would we communicate with our cellphone while we were out and about?
Building Batteries for African Cellphone Towers
Cellular phones may be the only link to the outside world in remote African settlements. Therefore they play an essential role in education, health, and so much more there. But cellular base station tower battery theft threatens the entire system to the extent Cape Town is hosting a battery assembly plant.
This will be Swedish energy storage specialist Polarium’s third facility, after similar factories in Mexico and Vietnam. However, it main target is local and rest-of-Africa telecommunications towers. Capacity will reach 300, 000 batteries a year, equivalent to 4 GWh according to Creamer Media’s Engineering News.
The factory will take its power from a combination of solar energy and Polarium storage. It will thereby become a net contributor to the South African power grid. Moreover, some 95% of old battery material will recycle into new ones, through life cycle contracts agreed with customers.
Breaking News
Will Humble Batteries Help Save Our Planet?
