Solar power systems to power cell phone
towers
By Indo Asian News Service | IANS – Tue, May 10, 2011
Chennai, May 10 (IANS) Bangalore based Indo-Chinese joint venture ALTA-XinTong Solar
Tech Pvt Ltd is in the process of finalising a deal to sell 2,000 solar systems to power mobile
phone towers, said a top company official Tuesday.
'We are in advanced stages of finalising 2,000 solar power systems for leading tower
companies in India under zero investment plan. The deployment of these solar power systems
would create job opportunities for more than 70,000 skilled and semi-skilled technicians in
India,' managing director E.M. Abdul Manaf told reporters here.
The company is a 65:35 joint venture between India's ALTA Energy Technologies and
China's solar system solution provider XinTong.
According to Manaf, there are around 300,000 telecom sites in India, out of which over
30,000 are in off-grid rural locations.
These off-grid sites are running on diesel 24 hours a day. An autonomous solar system will
be ideal alternative to diesel generators as a power source. This will help operators avoid high
transportation cost, diesel theft, and diesel generator maintenance cost, he said.
According to the firm's chief technology officer Teckee Shih, the company arranges funding
for the purchase of the systems.
He said around 9,000 cell phone towers in China are being powered by XinTong's solar
power systems.
'We will set up a demonstration unit and prove the savings that the tower operator will make.
The primary condition for us to set up the demonstration unit is that once we show the
savings, the operator has to place a minimum order for 100 units,' Shih said.
On the logic of compelling the company to place an order for minimum quantity, he said it
costs around Rs.2.7 million to set up one demonstration unit.
'We are arranging finance and once the savings are proved the tower company has to place
the order,' Shih told IANS.
He declined to name the company that would provide the funding.
Shih said the joint venture company sources solar panels and batteries from Indian sources
and imports controls from China.