Tuesday, October 07, 2008 Telco installs wind, solar power for Cebu cell sites
SMART Communications Inc. (Smart) has responded to the global call to use renewable energy sources and reduce greenhouse emissions that harm the environment.
The telecom company has started harnessing wind and solar energy to power cell sites located in remote areas in the country.
Recently, Smart deployed five additional eco-friendly cell sites in Cebu. Two are located southern towns of San Fernando and Santander while two more are in the north—Tudela in the Camotes group of islands and in Barangay Maya in Daanbantayan. The fifth cell site is in the town of Balamban, located southwest of Cebu City.
Three of the cell sites are hybrid stations, using a combination of solar and wind power. Those in Tudela and Daanbantayan towns rely on wind energy for power.
Generally, alternative energy is derived from “renewable” resources, such as solar or wind energy. No harmful exhaust is produced when using alternative energy generators.
Renewables do not pose any threat of toxic or radioactive waste products.
Smart tapped Power City, the country’s pioneer in the use of wind and solar power, to install wind turbines and/or solar panels in the sites. Each installation only takes at most a month for designing and installing, and takes into account the site’s energy requirements.
Continuous
For example, the system installed at the Santander site has a capacity of 600 watts of solar and 1,000 watts of wind power, while that in San Fernando has a capacity of 3,000 watts solar and 1,000 watts of wind power.
“These would be able to sustain the energy requirements of the site on a continuous basis,” said Wilson Teh, president of Power City.
“Smart’s use of renewable resources is an endeavor that we welcome,” said Jonathan Buscato, municipal planning and development council officer of Santander.
Buscato said that because the town is remote, power shortages are a common occurrence so they resort to using generators.
“With the new sources of energy, we can expect a reduction in power interruptions and since generators will not be used—noise will be limited. It shows Smart’s concern for the environment and for the residents, as well,” he said.
Smart subscribers, in particular, get an added benefit. “The hybrid wind- and solar-powered cell sites contribute to increasing the voice and data coverage of Smart, particularly in the countryside, resulting in continued service, even if subscribers are in far-flung areas,” said Mar Tamayo, NSD group head of Smart.
Livelihood
Edgar Acero, Smart NSD North Cebu Area Supervisor, notes that the coverage provided by cell sites help the communities and even provide additional sources of livelihood for load retailers.
The very first wind-powered cell site in the country was installed by Smart in 2006 on Malapascua Island, also in Cebu. Last year, Smart deployed 33 more renewable energy-powered cell sites.
This year, Smart’s goal is to deploy a total of 34 eco-friendly cell sites—19 wind-powered and 15 hybrid solar- and wind-powered cell sites.
On the business side, a hybrid solar- and wind-powered cell site system is a better economic alternative to fuel generator sets.
“Before, the annual cost of maintaining a site is P1.2M including hauling expenses and the cost of diesel for the genset at oil prices three years ago. In contrast, installing the wind power costs only P800,000. The site is likewise virtually maintenance-free and can run nonstop on renewable energy,” said Teh.
“We want to be green in all aspects of the operations. Although we still have a lot to do—our shift to alternative sources of energy is a step towards our company’s green campaign,” said Maria Jane Paredes, Smart public affairs manager for Visayas-Mindanao. (PR)
