October 9th, 2008 – Ericsson partnered with turbine maker Vertical Wind AB and Uppsala University in Sweden to incorporate a vertical-axis wind turbine into the tower that houses radio base stations and antennas. The tower is now undergoing trials to see if the design will enable low-cost mobile communications to spread throughout remote regions with minimal environmental impact.
Ericsson has greatly reduced the station’s power demand, eliminating the need for feeders and cooling systems and slashing energy consumption up to 40 percent, the company says.
It’s not clear how much of the tower’s energy needs will be fulfilled by the turbine but it will likely need to be grid-connected to ensure a stable signal, because of wind’s intermittent nature, although it could use an energy storage system in far-flung locals. Still, the idea of greening our communications networks with windmills makes a lot sense. If we’re putting up these tall towers anyway, why not slap a turbine on them? We just hope it works as well as it sounds.
