A new report released today by Mobile Experts predicts a dramatic increase in renewable energy usage by mobile operators as they struggle to get a handle over their operational costs.
"Solar panels and wind turbines currently have a good ROI for remote mobile base stations, but ongoing economic changes will bring the payback period to less than six months over the next ten years," said Joe Madden, principal analyst at Mobile Experts. "The changes in ROI expectations will create a tectonic shift in the industry, shifting over150,000 base station sites from diesel generators to alternative energy sources over the next 10 years."
The change in this market will begin during 2010. “The government of India has initiated some major incentives to drive installation of thousands of solar panels during the next six months," explained Madden. "This kind of government program will build enough economy of scale for the mobile industry to embrace solar panels more globally."
More than 2 billion people live in emerging markets, in rural communities that remain uncovered by mobile infrastructure. Two billion others are covered by cell sites which rely heavily on diesel fuel as a primary power source.
