Distributed Power Africa (DPA), a subsidiary of Econet Global, will be installing Tesla Powerwalls to power Econet Wireless’ local operations of their telecommunications towers; commencing one of Africa’s largest deployments of AC coupled Lithium-ion batteries in the telecoms sector.
This follows the successful completion of a 12-month trial integrating Tesla Powerwall with one of Econet’s telecommunication towers to provide backup power. Tesla will supply DPA with 520 Powerwalls to power 260 Econet sites, with the first 65 sites to be installed in the coming months.
Norman Moyo, CEO Econet Energy (and DPA) said: “We were impressed with the performance of Tesla Powerwall during the trial stage.
It addresses the power back up requirements, offers 100% depth of discharge and has a wide temperature operating range. It also offers real time monitoring and will help mitigate against current battery theft issues being experience with lead acid batteries. We look forward to working with Tesla on other initiatives in energy security”.
South Africa and Zimbabwe are amongst the many African countries where increased cases of battery theft have been reported to be the result of frequent power outages in areas with intermittent grid supply. Businesses are looking for solutions to secure reliable energy supply, and the replacement of lead acid batteries with Lithium ion batteries like these is the solution to insure against asset loss and reliable power backup.
Distributed Power Africa has received great interest from the Commercial and Industrial sector in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe for renewable energy solutions like these, and is looking forward to delivering increased access to solar power and battery technology through strategic partnerships with global technology leaders.
The DPA use of Tesla Powerwall will provide telecoms customers with the convenience of improved service delivery, and comes at a strategic point when the African continent is working towards improving its power supply.
About Tesla Powerwall
Tesla’s Powerwall battery has an in-built inverter and can be easily retrofitted to any site with or without solar. Its high energy density allows for an increased energy storage potential on site, and is ideal for space-constrained locations. The batteries, which can be discharged to 100% depth of discharge, can be installed indoors and outdoors, and are designed to provide seamless back-up during grid outages.