Never has it been more important to switch to renewable energy sources. Besides reducing our environmental impact, renewables help us break free from obtaining fossil fuels from nations that use the money to power their war operations.

Heather Johnson, Vice President for Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson, said: “At Ericsson, we are committed to working with our customers to support them in cutting their carbon emissions. This partnership is a great example of how we’re achieving this through our best-in-class energy-efficient equipment, which can be operated entirely with renewable energy.”

Ericsson and DT used renewable energy to transform a live 5G site in the Bavarian municipality of Dittenheim.
Since its inception over a year ago, the site has been partially powered by solar panels. The location features 12 square meters of solar panels and a wind turbine that can generate up to five kilowatts of additional power. Regardless of the weather, the site should be able to obtain some renewable energy.

To realize the maximum potential of solar and wind energy, an Ericsson-designed management solution is employed to optimize power supply and demand. The system theoretically allows the facility to operate independently of its cable connection to the electrical power grid.

Leif Heitzer, SVP of Technology Guidance and Economics at DT, stressed that ensuring integrated management of “clean, efficient, and reliable power sources and usage” is crucial for sustainable mobile site operations. He further commented: “Together with innovative partners, we explore in trials how we can apply intelligent solutions and capabilities to optimize energy consumption and control at mobile sites.”

The partners say that on windy days, the site’s operations generated more renewable energy than they consumed. A less-so-clean diesel generator is kept as on hand for emergencies, but the idea is to integrate additional energy sources like fuel cells “in the near future”.