Technical Information

Telecommunication
Using of Off-Grid inverters SUNNY ISLAND in Base Transceiver Stations

Contents
As part of the global development of telecommunications networks, Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) are also
frequently constructed in Off-Grid locations or Bad-Grid locations. The Sunny Island is very well suited to ensure
the electricity supply to a BTS even in such locations due to its flexibility and robustness. Off-Grid systems with
Sunny Island are distinguished by the following features:
Possibility for the supply of AC loads and DC loads in battery operation.
Optional use of 1-phase or 3-phase generators and the power distribution grid.
Selection between positive or negative grounding of the DC bus.
Flexible system design with the use of various renewable energy sources.
This document explains in detail when the use of a Sunny Island for the supply of electricity to a BTS is expedient
and what is to be taken into consideration for this.

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Introduction

1 Introduction
The global development of base transceiver stations is increasingly taking place in regions in which the power
distribution grid often breaks down for long periods of time or where there is no access to the power distribution
grid. In order to also ensure an electricity supply to BTSs in such regions, diesel generators are being installed.
These require a high level of maintenance work and consume relatively high amounts of diesel fuel for low level
outputs. As a result diesel generators incur high operating expenses (OPEX) and present the operators of
mobile communications networks with the challenge of having to limit their Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Annual increase of Base Transceiver Stations from 2007 to 2012

Source: GSMA Analysis

With electricity supplies based on Off-Grid inverters of the Sunny Island type, SMA Solar Technology AG offers
a solution for hybrid battery/generator supply systems which are able to be extended flexibly through
renewable energy sources. As a result the BTS operators are presented with opportunities for desirable
reductions of the operating expenses.
Since the Sunny Island was developed as an Off-Grid electricity supply, it is not based on the standards usual
for telecommunications such as the 19" design technology. However, all requirements of the supply of
electricity to BTSs are met, e.g. the positive grounding of the DC bus, the support of 1-phase or 3-phase
generators or the possibility of grid-parallel operation. In addition there is a technically refined battery
management and generator management and the robustness which is continually proven by the worldwide
BTS electricity supplies fitted with Sunny Island inverters.

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Sunny Island Applications

2 Sunny Island Applications

Off-Grid inverters of the Sunny Island family enable a bi-directional DC/AC conversion and are therefore also
designated as a combination of inverter and charging device or as an Inverter/Charger combi-device. Thus a
rectifier as found in a grid-connected BTS is not necessary. Loads and generators can be integrated on both
the AC and the DC side. The bi-directional conversion ensures that even under pure battery operation,
ACloads such as air-conditioners or lighting systems are supplied.
Therefore using the Sunny Island pays off especially when larger AC loads are to be supplied in the event of
grid break-downs or in Off-Grid operation. All BTS components can be integrated on the DC side as normal.
The use of a Sunny Island as a BTS electricity supply is also to be recommended when various renewable
energy sources such as sun, wind or water are to be integrated or if flexible plant planning and modular
extendibility is required.
If, however, there are no AC loads to be supplied, it is recommended that a rectifier with commercially
available charge controllers is installed. Even with a total load of less than 0.5 kW it would be sensible to
develop a purely regenerative DC system.

3 Sunny Island for Bad-Grids or Off-Grid

In addition to the elimination of the rectifier, the Sunny Island provides for use in Bad-Grids or Off-Grid the
advantage of an integrated battery management and generator management system. With regular full and
equalization charges, the battery management ensures a maximized battery life. The load shedding of the
loads in the event of generator failures prevents a deep-discharging of the battery. The generator running time
can be set flexibly based on the times of day and the battery State Of Charge (SOC).
In the event of frequent and long break-downs of the power distribution grid, the use of deep-cycle batteries is
recommended. Often, an additional reduction of the Total Cost of Ownership is able to be achieved if PV plants
or small wind energy plants are installed per location.
Various types of generators are able to be integrated through the design of 1-phase or 3-phase systems. A
Sunny Island is to be installed per phase. Additionally the Sunny Island allows for the power distribution grid
to be integrated in exactly the same way as a generator. The parallel use of the power distribution grid and a
generator or the parallel use of 2 generators requires the application of an Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS).
The Sunny Island is suitable for TN grids.

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System Design and Grounding Concept

4 System Design and Grounding Concept

Legend

Small wind
turbine system

PV

Phase conductor (L)

Neutral conductor (N)
Protective conductor (PE)

Generator
AC2

Equipotential
bonding busbar

EM

OM
USBC

DC-supplied contactor

Relay1/2
BatVtgOut

DigIn
BatTmp BatCur

ER

Com
SynchOut
Com
SmaOut

Com
SmaIn
Com
SynchIn

AC-Loads

AC1

Relay1/2

Starting signal

Windy
Boy

NETC
OM
SMA
COM

Sunny Boy /
Sunny Mini
Central

SYST

Communication cable
Control cable
Measuring cable

MEM
ORY
REPO
RT

Sunny WebBox
(optional)

POW

Positive conductor
Negative conductor

DC

Com
SynchIn
DC-Loads

3
Battery
current
sensor

SIC 50

AC/DC
converter

4
+
Battery
temperature
sensor

Battery

PV

Small wind
turbine system

Information on the grounding concept

No.

Explanation
If the standards applicable to the location demand the grounding of a PV array, it is necessary to
connect the PV array via the AC side and to use a galvanically isolated PV inverter with transformer.
When a diesel generator is connected to the Sunny Island the complete grounding of the neutral
conductor and both protective conductors is necessary.

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No.

Communication Options

Explanation
The integration of a BTS in the DC bus of an Off-Grid system requires positive grounding of the
battery. Since all Off-Grid inverters of the Sunny Island family have a transformer and thus insulate
DC and AC galvanically from each other, this grounding is easily possible.
When a charge controller such as the Sunny Island Charger is used on the DC side or
transformerless PV inverters are used on the AC side it is to be observed that no grounding of the
positive or negative poles of the PV array is allowed.

Combination of the Sunny Island with renewable energy sources

AC coupling and DC coupling for the integration of small wind energy plants and PV plants are freely
selectable.
Energy sources should feed-in as near as possible to the load and in conformance with their load profile,
e.g. a PV plant for the supply of electricity to an air-conditioner should be coupled into the AC side.
AC-coupled PV inverters must be controllable via the frequency. For this, the "OFF-Grid" operating mode
is to be activated in PV inverters from SMA Solar Technology AG.
The Smart Load for Sunny Island lends itself to the integration of uncontrollable renewable energy sources.

5 Communication Options
The connection of a Sunny WebBox to the RS485 interface of the Sunny Island enables the detection of failure
statuses and the monitoring of system parameters, e.g. the battery State of Health (SOH) or the generator
running times. This data gives information on energy flows and the state of charge of the batteries and enables
analysis of the system behavior and evaluation of the energy yield. Via registration of the plant in the Sunny
Portal, additional event tables as well as various diagram presentations and report functions are available.
Use of the Sunny WebBox with access to Sunny Portal is also recommended in order that the Sunny Island
System can be integrated into a Network Operation Center (NOC). Thus the status of the BTS electricity supply
can be monitored at a glance via internet access. The presentation of data in the Sunny Portal can be
configured to individual requirements.
Several modems can be used with the Sunny WebBox in order to enable a connection e.g. via
GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) or DSL (Digital Subscriber Line).
If 2 up to 4 Sunny Islands are interconnected to form a Cluster, the Sunny WebBox only communicates with
one of the Sunny Islands, the master of the Cluster. An internal communications bus connects all slaves and up
to 4 DC coupled Sunny Island Chargers with the Sunny Island master. Further AC-coupled SMA products can
be integrated via an RS485 bus.

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Selection of the Sunny Island

6 Selection of the Sunny Island

For a hybrid generator / battery supply system it is economically essential that the diesel generator runs for as
short as possible and at the optimum operating point. Above all the generator output is therefore to be
considered to ensure that it operates as closely as possible to the nominal power of the generator during
battery charging. A further aspect is the continuous power of the AC loads to be supplied during battery
operation.

Combination of Generator and Sunny Island

The following table gives recommendations as to which Sunny Island is suitable for which generators.
DC voltage

Generator type

Generator power

Sunny Island
used

+24 V
+24 V
+24 V
48 V / +48 V
48 V / +48 V
48 V / +48 V

1-phase
1-phase
3-phase
1-phase
1-phase
3-phase

1 kVA 5 kVA
3 kVA 8 kVA
5 kVA 15 kVA
3 kVA 10 kVA
9 kVA 20 kVA
5 kVA 30 kVA

1 x SI 2224
2 x SI 2224
3 x SI 2224
1 x SI 5048
2 x SI 5048
3 x SI 5048

Continuous AC
power in battery
operation
2.2 kW
4.4 kW
6.6 kW
5 kW
10 kW
15 kW

Depending on how continuously the AC loads are to be supplied and depending on the estimated generator
runtime the dimensioning can deviate from the recommendations in the table.

Dimensioning of the Generator

If the generator power is lower than the power of the Sunny Island, the maximum charge current must be
lowered via a parameter setting in the Sunny Island in order to avoid a generator overload. The efficiency of
the operation is not impaired by this, however a portion of the Sunny Island power for the charging of the
battery remains unused. In order to use this power, additional renewable energy sources can be integrated for
charging the battery.
If the output power of the generator is greater than the input power of the Sunny Island, the generator must be
able to align its output power to that of a load. The generator can thus be much larger than given in the above
table. However, in relation to the economic efficiency it is to be observed that for diesel generators,
consumption per kilowatt-hour greatly increases the closer it runs to no-load operation. The diesel generator
should largely serve as a battery charger and otherwise be disconnected.

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Integration of renewable energy sources

Integration of the DC loads

The requirements of the DC loads to be supplied have very little influence on the efficiency of operation. It is to
be observed that the runtime of the generator and the number of starts per day lay within a sensible range. This
range varies greatly depending on the type of integrated energy sources and the AC loads. Therefore the
determination of an optimum based on the overall energy requirement and the battery capacity is
recommended. For this, the following extremes are usual:
2 generator starts per day without the use of renewable energy sources
No generator runtime during full supply via renewable energy sources
The upper limit for the DC continuous load is to be selected so that enough power for battery charging is
available.

7 Integration of renewable energy sources

The Sunny Island can be combined with renewable energy sources depending on the location. The renewable
energy sources can be integrated either on the AC side or DC side via appropriate converters. When
integrating generators or loads on the DC side a battery current sensor must also be integrated in order that
the Sunny Island battery management correctly measures the charge current of the battery. Renewable energy
sources can be integrated optimally with SMA inverters on the AC side.
During the selection between AC coupling and DC coupling, orientation towards the requirement of the loads
is recommended for a maximum yield. If for example an air-conditioner is to be supplied, it is preferable to
integrate a PV plant on the AC side, since in the event of large amounts of sunshine an increase in cooling is
required and the air-conditioner has an AC connection.
The power rating of the generators that are coupled via charge controllers or Off-Grid inverters is freely
selectable within certain limits. In order to avoid over-dimensioning of the energy sources the maximum charge
current after deduction of the typical load current should not be exceeded wherever possible:
As an upper limit the energy sources to be connected should not be able to provide more than twice the
power of the Sunny Island.
A lower limit is only valid in systems without a generator. In these systems a charge current of at least
10 A should be achievable for peak times based on a nominal capacity each of 100 Ah.

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Approaches for the design of a BTS electricity supply

8 Approaches for the design of a

BTS electricity supply
There are 2 approaches for the design of a BTS electricity supply. The first is the classic design of an Off-Grid
system based on renewable energy sources. In the process the system is cost-efficiently designed depending
on the location-specific availability of renewable energy sources. A generator is optional, serves at most as fallback level and therefore has a low runtime. Maintenance work and diesel consumption are accordingly low.
This approach is particularly suitable for larger off-grid systems with local peculiarities, since the design can be
specifically optimized for the local conditions.
For the supply of electricity to BTSs, however, a standard system that is transferrable to several locations is
normally designed that is also be economical even with limited space for PV modules and in grid parallel
operation. Furthermore, operators of BTSs expect an amortization period of within 4 years.
Thus, for off-grid BTS locations, the approach is currently chosen often assuming an operation of 24 hours per
day 7 days per week with 1 or 2 generators to optimize the Total Cost of Ownership. Here, as opposed to the
classic design as an off-grid system the reduction of diesel consumption and the maintenance intervals is
decisive.
The implementation of a generator / hybrid supply system can improve the Total Cost of Ownership, in that a
battery takes over the supply of the loads and the generator only charges the battery 1 or 2 times per day for
a few hours. Thus the generator runtime and maintenance work necessary are greatly reduced and at the same
time its efficiency and lifetime increase. Because of these cost savings, as opposed to the continuous generator
operation there is in most cases a lower Total Cost of Ownership, although the battery must be replaced
frequently due to the large operational demands.
A pure generator / battery hybrid supply system without renewable energy sources normally transfers the
complete nominal capacity daily, e.g. with a 2-time electric discharge down to an SOC of 40%. The
permanently high energy output causes a considerable quantity of waste heat. Alongside the high currents, the
temperature increase acts above all as an accelerating factor of the battery aging. Therefore it is worthwhile
to always integrate a portion of renewable energy sources, which can perform a daily conservation charge
during running supply through a BTS. Thus the high operational demands and warming of the battery
significantly lower and the battery lifetime is increased. To use the generator for the float charge of the battery
would be very inefficient since the fuel consumption per kilowatt hour is very high in no-load operation.
In a Sunny Island System the large variety of power classes of PV inverters and wind turbine inverters allows
for the coupled renewable energy sources to be varied location-specifically without having to completely
change the system design. This makes the solution very flexible and modularly adjustable. At the same time the
Sunny Island functions as system manager and enables all operating modes mentioned.

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References

9 References
Cesme in Turkey
PV plant:
Wind turbine:

Off-grid system:
Battery:
Load:

Solartracker with Sunny Boy 3000;

peak output 3.2 kWp
Proven small wind turbine system
with Windy Boy 6000A;
power 6 kW
1 x Sunny Island 5048
Battery type OpzV;
Battery capacity 1 500 Ah
BTS

Photo source: Girasolar

Mugla in Turkey
PV plant:
Wind turbine:
Off-grid system:
Battery:
Loads:

3 x Sunny Mini Central 6000A;

peak output 17.88 kWp
3 x Windy Boy 5000A;
power 15 kW
6 x Sunny Island 5048
Battery type OpzV;
Battery capacity 3 000 Ah
BTS and a restaurant

Photo source: Girasolar

Croatia
PV plant:

Off-grid system:
Battery:
Load:

Sunny Boy 3300 and charge

controller;
peak output 11.5 kWp
1 x Sunny Island 5048 with
generator
Battery type OpzV;
Battery capacity 2 900 Ah
BTS

Photo source: EnergyPLUS

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