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This study examines the effect of several site-specific factors on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions stemming from operation of 4G and 5G technology-based telecommunication towers at many locations across India with focus on the assessment of the incremental change expected due to 5G technology adoption. Also, the impact of adopting solar photovoltaics (PV) based hybrid power systems on overall CO 2 emissions from operation of telecom towers. Optimal designs of solar PV-based hybrid systems are obtained using HOMER software for 25 diverse Indian locations for powering both 4G and 5G telecom towers while considering site-specific factors such as solar resource availability, availability and tariff of grid electricity and the unit price of diesel used in the Diesel Generator (DG) of the hybrid system. From the results of the study it is noted that, with the current energy supply mix, a tripling of the carbon dioxide emissions is expected if all of India's 0.71 million telecom towers adopt 5G technology. Adoption of solar PV-based systems along with grid electricity and diesel generator in hybrid mode has the potential to reduces carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 55 % for the existing telecom towers in India. For the case of all telecom towers transitioning to 5G technology, about 58 % reduction in CO 2 emissions is possible with the adoption of PV-based hybrid power systems. From the perspective of the unit cost of CO 2 emissions mitigation, the adoption of solar PV-based hybrid systems is found to be a no regret option. Results of the study have significant policy implications towards designing appropriate strategies for reducing carbon footprint of telecom tower operation in India. • CO 2 emissions from telecom towers to triple in India with 5G over 4G technology. • Solar PV hybrid systems can mitigate 55 % of CO 2 emissions for existing levels. • In case of 100 % 5G adoption, 58 % reduction in CO 2 emissions is possible with solar PV. • Solar PV hybrid systems offer a no-regret option to mitigate telecom CO 2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The choice of condenser cooling option for concentrating solar power (CSP) plants is likely to affect their techno-economic feasibility. In view of this, an attempt has been made to assess relative techno-economics and net life cycle CO 2 -eq emissions mitigation (LCCM) potential for 50 MW nominal capacity wet-cooled and dry-cooled parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC) and dry-cooled solar power tower (SPT) based CSP plants with 6.0 h of thermal energy storage for two potential locations in India. It was observed that though dry cooling is likely to save significant amount of water (∼92%) in PTSC based plants, the same shall result in higher capital cost, higher performance penalty and higher parasitic power requirements leading to around 20% higher levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) as compared to wet-cooled PTSC based plants. It was also observed that the dry-cooled SPT based plants shall be able to deliver up to 4.5% higher annual electricity output and LCOE is also likely to be lowered by 13% than wet-cooled PTSC based plants. Considering emissions embodied and emissions associated with water transport/extraction from the source and water treatment, the estimation of LCCM from the PTSC and SPT based CSP plants have also been undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

of a HOMER based techno-economic assessment of an electricity supply option based on a hybrid system comprising of a PV component, a diesel generator (DG) and electricity grid have been presented in this paper. The study includes analysis of electricity unavailability data for 132 locations in India spread over state capitals, district headquarters, municipal areas and villages. The values of Net Present Cost (NPC) and Cost of Electricity (CoE) have been estimated for 25 selected locations in the country and a comparison with corresponding values for conventional alternative (grid+DG) has also been presented. The study internalizes all relevant location specific parameters. The values of NPC and CoE are lower in the range of 9.5%–36.6% and 16%–33.6% respectively for the proposed system (grid+PV+DG) as compared to conventional system at all 25 locations considered. The inclusion of PV component results in reduced purchase of grid electricity and much lower hours of operation of DG. • Analyzed real-time hourly grid power supply outage status for outdoor telecom towers at 132 locations • Designed optimal hybrid systems for powering BTS in telecom towers at 25 selected locations in India, • Presented a detailed techno-economic comparison of solar PV based hybrid system for powering BTS • The values of NPC and CoE are lower in the range of 9.5%–36.6% and 16%–102.4% respectively for the hybrid system • The PV component results in reduced purchase of grid electricity, DG operation, electricity fed to grid, and CO 2 emissions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]