Abstract
Satisfying the mobile traffic demand in next generation cellular networks increases the cost of energy supply. Renewable energy sources are a promising solution to power base stations in a self-sufficient and cost-effective manner. This paper presents an optimal method for designing a photovoltaic (PV)-battery system to supply base stations in cellular networks. A systematic approach is proposed for determining the power rating of the photovoltaic generator and battery capacity from a technical and economical point of view in order to minimize investment cost as well as operational expenditure, while the power autonomy of the PV-battery system is maximized in a multi-objective optimization framework. The proposed method is applied to optimally size a photovoltaic-battery system for three cases with different availability of solar power to investigate the effect of environmental conditions. Problem-solving using the proposed approach leads to a set of solutions at different costs versus different levels of power autonomy. According to the importance of each criterion and the preference of decision-makers, one of the achieved solutions can be selected for the implementation of the photovoltaic-battery system to supply base stations in cellular networks.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1895 |
| Journal | Energies |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| ISSN | 1996-1073 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 29 Mar 2021 |
| Externally published | Yes |