The eSite x10 hybrid power system aims to provide outdoor telecommunications sites, such as cellular towers, with high uptime and low power costs.
The system is purpose built to outdoor telecommunications equipment standards for such sites. The sealed tamperproof unit with passive convection cooling has no filters or moving parts, and requires no maintenance, says Swedish power management multinational Flexenclosure CEO David King.
Development of the eSite x10 took three years. The system can withstand the operational challenges in harsh, outdoor environments, based on the company’s experience of installing thousands of hybrid power systems at sites across Africa and Asia.
“Hybrid power systems for off-grid or bad-grid telecom sites have traditionally been built using indoor components and deployed in outdoor locations where they are exposed to challenging environmental extremes.”
The system has no single point of failure and uses patented protective soft power switching between the grid and connected electricity generation sets, replacing mechanical switching and protecting the unit from potentially damaging input power while improving energy harvesting.
The eSite x10 is IP65-sealed – the telecommunications equipment standard for dust and water protection – and ruggedised to withstand the operating conditions and potential tampering.
Single units can be preconfigured, which simplifies deployment planning. These units are compact and can be carried by hand to site, with built-in support for 6 kW solar power.
“All the required systems are already in the unit, which makes installation a simple and quick plug-and-play process. Power sources, batteries and tenants are easily added in the connection compartment as and when required. Further, system configuration is managed remotely, removing the chance of mistakes made by on-site installers,” says King.
It has a design life of more than ten years in challenging outdoor environments. The eSite x10 also reduces diesel-related costs by up to 90%, owing to a combination of software-defined hybrid battery control for the solar power system, intelligent grid power harvesting and optimal generation set control.
“We have taken our experience and distilled it into a product that is fit for purpose. The eSite x10’s hardware and software engineering is designed to provide cellular network and mobile operators with a sustained advantage in terms of uptime and low power costs on site,” concludes King.