Orange turns to the sun

How could we deploy a mobile telephony network at low cost in rural areas without any electricity supply, while guaranteeing quality of service and pursuing a policy of sustainable development?
While at first sight this may have looked like a complex or even unsolvable equation, it has been behind a highly innovative and immediately successful project in the African and Middle Eastern countries where Orange is present: solar-powered mobile stations.
In line with the Group's commitment to devising and deploying quality mobile coverage at a reasonable cost in Africa, solar-powered mobile stations are replacing fuel oil-based relay stations in rural areas.

innovative network engineering and numerous benefits
Upholding the Group's commitment to sustainable development: here, the benefits are twofold! Each solar power station makes it possible to save several thousand liters of fuel oil each year, considerably reducing CO2 emissions. Each station also produces surplus energy, averaging out at 25% over the year. In partnership with local players, this surplus will be able to be used to improve living conditions for neighboring villages: recharging lamps or mobiles, powering refrigerators containing medication, lighting schools or even maternity units…
Improving quality of service: since there are less interruptions in the power supply, quality of service is improved considerably. During the day, thanks to the photovoltaic panels, solar energy is collected to then be converted into electrical energy. A regulator-charger handles the recharging of solar batteries and energy storage, with an average standalone running time of four days.
Reducing costs: while solar-powered stations require a bigger investment, they last 20 to 25 years, some five to six times longer than conventional stations equipped with generators. The return on investment is relatively quick since, in addition to the major savings achieved on fuel oil, solar-powered stations make it possible to reduce the number of trips needed for maintenance thanks to a remote monitoring system.

an instant hit
More than 200 solar-powered stations had already been deployed by the end of 2008 in Senegal, Madagascar, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Niger and Mali. The Group’s target is for 25% of our electricity consumption in these regions to come from solar power by 2015.



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the flashcard “greener IS and networks”
networks and IT