Reducing the total cost of ownership in radio access networks by using renewable energy resources

TL;DR

This paper proposes a cost-efficient hybrid energy radio access network using solar panels, optimizing size and operation to reduce total ownership costs, demonstrating feasibility and benefits over traditional systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel framework with algorithms for sizing and managing hybrid solar-powered RANs, outperforming existing methods and MILP solutions.

Findings

Algorithms outperform MILP solutions in cost reduction.

Migration to HEBRAN is feasible with cost benefits.

Proposed methods effectively regulate grid electricity consumption.

Abstract

Increasing electricity prices motivates the mobile network operators to find new energy-efficient solutions for radio access networks (RANs). In this study, we focus on a specific type of RAN where the stand-alone solar panels are used as alternative energy sources to the electrical grid energy. First, we describe this hybrid energy based radio access network (HEBRAN) and formulate an optimization problem which aims to reduce the total cost of ownership of this network. Then, we propose a framework that provides a cost-efficient algorithm for choosing the proper size for the solar panels and batteries of a HEBRAN and two novel switch on/off algorithms which regulate the consumption of grid electricity during the operation of the network. In addition, we create a reduced model of the HEBRAN optimization problem to solve it in a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) solver. The results show that our algorithms outperform the MILP solution and classical switch on/off methods. Moreover, our findings show that migrating to a HEBRAN system is feasible and has cost-benefits for mobile network operators.