Green energy technologies, namely wind and solar power, now power some 25 percent of Vodacom Lesotho’s cellular base stations. The move, viewed to reduce carbon emissions, puts Lesotho among the word’s few countries that have adopted the technology.
The base stations will neither be on the national electricity grid nor be powered by diesel generators as will be the case with the other base stations.
Forty of the 165 base stations in Lesotho are currently powered through a combination of solar and wind energy.
Other innovative technologies by Vodacom Lesotho include a method for optimising the power system by ensuring that should there be a power failure, a site continues to work for a maximum of three hours on stored battery power before a diesel generator takes over.
Also, the manner in which base stations are managed is innovative. Smart meters are being used to monitor the base station power consumption, and remote control management systems are used to manage the base stations from a remote location and thus reducing the need for physical visits to the base station sites.
The geographical positioning of Lesotho makes it possible to support the latest sustainable base station technology based entirely on solar and wind power.
According to Vodacom Lesotho, the main aim of these innovations is to provide mobile communications services to previously unconnected communities in the most remote and rural areas of the country.
Apart from reducing reliance on fossil fuels and reducing carbon emissions, the implementation of these technologies makes it easier and less expensive to connect remote communities.
The drive to have these communities connected to the mobile Internet has great potential to deliver substantial social and economic benefits for Lesotho. It could also assist the government in providing information and delivering services to remote areas of the country.
