Application of PV-Battery-Fossil fuel Hybrid system for remote telecom operation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is experiencing electric power capacity crisis. Access to electricity in Bangladesh is one of the lowest in the world; coverage including Solar Home Systems today stands around 62% of the total population. However the rural areas of Bangladesh where 76% of the population live, is seriously deprived of the electricity facility. [1] Larger energy supplies and greater efficiency of energy use are thus necessary to meet the basic needs of a growing population. This crisis affects in Telecom services. The telecom network established by several operators in Bangladesh is wider than the national power grid coverage. As a result some BTS (Base Transceiver Station) are out of the coverage from electricity grid. This paper proposes a Photo voltaic-Battery-Fossil fuel Hybrid energy system for Non Commercial Power (NCP) telecom BTS application in Bangladesh. Photovoltaic system is the primary source of power to the load (BTS equipment) and to charge the batteries, which supply power during the night. Fossil fuel (diesel generator) is used as a backup. When there is no power from the PV system and no battery backup diesel generator will turn on. This paper also presents the result of a case study implemented by a leading power generation company in several telecom sites. One of the big challenges was to manage generator running time below 3 hour per day and one day backup is ensured by battery support if there is no solar power. The overall power management strategy is designed to manage uninterrupted power flow to keep telecom BTS´s live all the time.