Colocation Products Featured Article

Nokia Siemens Networks has introduced SiteStar, a cooling cabinet that will purportedly increase battery life by three times. Sitestar (News - Alert) will also reduce the electricity consumed for cooling batteries at a base station site by up to 95 percent, the company claims. SiteStar is a part of Nokia Siemens Networks’ (News - Alert) portfolio of energy efficient Smart Site solutions.

Expensive shelters and power consuming air conditioners required only for battery cooling can be replaced by SiteStar. According to Prashant Agnihotri, head of GSM/EDGE product management, radio access at Nokia Siemens Networks, SiteStar eliminates the need for expensive indoor sites, and at the same time reduces the OPEX (News - Alert) of an outdoor site. This helps an operator to reduce the cost of roll out and operation as well as its CO2 footprint.

SiteStar is ideal for countries with extreme climatic conditions. It is especially useful for emerging markets where power supply can be scarce making battery back-up essential. The operating range of SiteStar is from -40°C up to +50°C. SiteStar will be commercially available in the third quarter of 2009.

The life of a battery is inversely proportional to the temperature under which it operates. Even a 10°C increase above the optimal temperature of 20°C will reduce the life of a battery by 50 percent. Hence, service providers have to undertake capital and operating expenditure to ensure that the batteries remain cool, or replace them at regular intervals.

The unique design of SiteStar provides better resistance against external thermal radiation. This allows it to maintain a constant optimal temperature in very hot or cold climates, and increase battery life by three times in operating temperatures of 35°C, when compared to a fan based cabinet. Since SiteStar consumes only 40W, it also reduces electricity consumption for cooling batteries by up to 95 percent when compared to traditional air conditioned cabinets. It thus helps operators to reduce ongoing expenditure in battery replacements, site visits, electricity and diesel costs.

 

The Smart Site portfolio of Nokia Siemens Networks includes customized site solutions. These solutions help operators to reduce CAPEX and OPEX while expanding their networks in emerging markets. The usage of Smart Site solution with Sitestar will save 80 percent of power related OPEX, when compared to conventional shelter sites.

The Smart Site solution has been designed for demanding conditions like diverse temperatures and unreliable or absent power grid. If the Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi Base Station (which does not require air conditioners for cooling) is used with SiteStar, operators will be able to realize further cost savings.