optimal solar power system for remote telecommunication base stations: a case study based on the characteristics of south korea’s solar radiation exposure

This paper aims to address both the sustainability and environmental issues for cellular base stations in off-grid sites. For cellular network operators, decreasing the operational expenditures of the network and maintaining profitability are important issues. Hence, this study addresses the feasibility of a solar power system based on the characteristics of South Korean solar radiation exposure to supply the required energy to a remote cellular base station. The HOMER is used to determine the optimum size of the system components, to perform an energy production analysis, and to analyse the cost details of the project. The simulation results show that the proposed solar power system can achieve total operational expenditure savings of up to 48.6% by using sustainable and clean energy. This result means a significant long-term benefit can be achieved for cellular network operators.