Africa’s cellphone towers turn to solar as diesel costs surge (apnews.com)
from throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to world@lemmy.world on 02 May 06:56
https://lemmy.nz/post/37159740

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Zer0_F0x@lemmy.world on 02 May 09:10 next collapse

Solar used to have a very high upfront cost and a very long ROI time, but for use cases such as this, where the power draw is predictable and relatively low, solar is a no-brainer nowadays, with the price of both the panels and the batteries being so much lower than it used to be.

MrFinnbean@lemmy.world on 02 May 10:56 collapse

Only thing in solar that worries me is the reliability. It almost always needs some auxialary power to reliable smooth the lows and ups.

That said Afrika as a continent is pretty reliable for solar power all year around. Average is something like 325 days of bright sunlight annually. Cell network is pretty critical system tough, so as long as there is some fallback plan in case of failure i think this is excelent use for solar.

hoagecko@sh.itjust.works on 02 May 09:18 next collapse

This news reminds us that solar power has been chosen as an alternative energy source amid the power crisis in Myanmar during the civil war.

“It is not like we are using them for clean energy or for some environmental reasons. We are a country with civil war. We are just using them out of necessity,” said a resident in the Bago region.

War-torn Myanmar embraces solar to tackle power crisis | Reuters (2025-11-14)

mang0@lemmy.zip on 02 May 10:00 collapse

Nukecels seething