−48 V DC power for remote telecom sites
VENDOR.Max is an energy architecture for telecom loads with a −48 V DC interface. After initiation, the architecture does not provide for continuous external power input to the user load through the standard input of the installation. For a remote site this means a different operating model: instead of a permanent energy supply chain, there is start-up, scheduled service and replacement of wearing elements by condition. The tested prototype class is 5 kW; the telecom architecture is designed for peak loads up to 10 kW.
Up to 10 kW is the peak load design range of the telecom architecture. Applicability to a particular site is determined by its load profile.
Current project stage: TRL 4 — Prototype Rebuild After Relocation.
Energy at a remote site fails as logistics, not as equipment
The failure develops along the same chain every time, and the second scenario is quieter and more expensive than the first.
Mains power drops. The battery system begins to discharge. The backup generator has to take the load. If the start or the transfer is delayed, the energy system has to hold the DC bus within its permitted range until supply is restored — otherwise the telecom equipment loses power and the service is interrupted.
The second scenario is quieter and more expensive. The generator runs for many hours a day, fuel has to be delivered to the site regularly, repeated cycling consumes battery service life, and the next outage may last longer than planned. There is no single breakdown involved.
According to GSMA Intelligence, a remote rural site costs an operator on average 35–40 % more to run than an urban one, with the energy line carrying a premium of around 37 %.
The harder the site is to reach, the faster an energy problem turns into a logistics problem.
What changes
VENDOR.Max changes the type of logistics rather than the physics of service. For a load transferred to the VENDOR.Max energy layer, normal operation after initiation does not require continuous fuel delivery or continuous external power input through the standard input of the installation. A permanent energy supply chain stops being a condition for that load to run.
- start-up requires initiation;
- after start-up the internal battery system works as an internal operating buffer and has a finite service life;
- equipment is serviced on schedule and wears.
Fuel logistics
Procurement, transport, storage on site, theft risk, refuelling. The chain grows longer with every remote site added to the portfolio.
The generator as a separate system
The engine and the fuel path have their own failure modes and their own maintenance cycle, unrelated to the state of the radio equipment.
Load on the battery system
The battery system provides reserve and transient support. Frequent deep cycles increase its operational load and bring replacement closer.
Cost of intervention
The harder the access, the greater the cost and time required for any physical intervention at the site.
Telecom site energy is already built around −48 V. That is the layer we enter
The interface is not a VENDOR invention. It is the architecture the site already runs on.
In the classic −48 V architecture, the mains supply and the backup generator feed the rectifier layer, which forms a DC bus with battery reserve and distribution to the loads: BBU, RRU and AAU, transmission equipment, auxiliary circuits. The −48 V nominal for the power supply interface at the input of ICT equipment is specified in ETSI EN 300 132-2 V2.8.1 (2024-10). The description of the −48 V execution and of the product sequence is on the VENDOR.Max product page.
VENDOR.Max enters the existing −48 V energy layer of the site directly. During the pilot the existing protection, battery reserve and backup generator are retained.
- the energy layer does not require any change to the radio part and is designed independently of the radio equipment vendor;
- it is not an energy storage system.
Further boundary questions — RAN elements, removal of existing infrastructure — are covered in the questions below and during engineering matching.
First the actual load profile. Then the role of VENDOR.Max in the site DC architecture
An average site figure is only a reference. What determines applicability is the load profile of the specific site over time.
Energy consumption at telecom sites varies substantially with the radio technologies supported, network density, traffic and auxiliary infrastructure. GSMA Intelligence estimates the average mobile base station at around 5 kW and classifies sites by peak power into three groups: up to 2 kW, 2–5 kW, and above 5 kW. Most sites fall into the middle group, and operators expect the share above 5 kW to grow towards 2030.
The 5 kW class therefore sits directly within the scale of real site-level telecom load. Applicability, however, is determined not by a single figure but by the actual load profile over time of the specific site.
The first pilot candidate is a site, or a defined load group within the DC distribution, whose working profile matches the 5 kW class. Applicability is determined by the steady load, the character of short peaks and the behaviour of the existing battery infrastructure.
Total site power is not necessarily one indivisible load
A telecom DC power system distributes its output across several protected branches and load groups; the specific division depends on the architecture of the site. A site with a large total load is therefore first examined at the level of its DC distribution: which loads are grouped together, which can be metered separately, and which group suits a 5 kW class pilot. The architecture of the whole site is not rebuilt in the process.
5 kW class for the first deployment. Up to 10 kW is the peak design range of the telecom architecture
The upper part of the range is a configuration task, not a larger number in a specification sheet.
The first deployment is considered for sites or defined load groups matching the 5 kW class. The telecom architecture of VENDOR.Max is designed for peak loads up to 10 kW. The specific configuration of the upper part of the range is determined by the load profile, the DC distribution, the battery infrastructure, protection, thermal conditions and site conditions.
A base station does not stay unchanged. Operators add bands, radio equipment and transmission capacity, and extend the functional role of the site — and the requirements on the energy layer grow with it. According to GSMA Intelligence, the share of sites with peak power above 5 kW is expected by operators to increase towards 2030.
Site data provides site-level requirements for the engineering specification of the upper range: the load profile, the character of peaks, DC distribution conditions, the behaviour of the battery reserve and the thermal regime.
- Deploy
- Measure
- Define site requirements
- Configure the next scale
- Verify
Six parameters that determine applicability
The assessment requires no site visit, no survey and no procurement decision.
- average site load;
- peak site load;
- configuration of the −48 V bus, of the DC distribution and of the existing monitoring system;
- capacity of the battery system;
- rating of the backup generator and its actual running hours;
- mains availability and site access constraints.
These parameters determine whether the profile of the site, or of a defined load group, matches a 5 kW class pilot.
Electromagnetic compatibility belongs to the ordinary engineering of installing power and electronic equipment at a distributed site. For VENDOR it was accounted for during development and remains a mandatory verification parameter for the specific installation configuration.
Engineering matching
The applicable configuration, the connection point, the protection and earthing scheme, the measurement boundaries, monitoring requirements, the electromagnetic environment of the site and compatibility criteria, and the verification criteria are all defined.
Controlled deployment
Installation runs in parallel with the existing system. The battery system and the backup generator are retained throughout the verification stage.
Measurement
Continuity of supply, power actually delivered to the load, behaviour under load change, thermal conditions, interaction with the existing DC distribution, running hours and actual use of the backup generator, fuel consumption where metering exists, number of service visits, operational data of the battery system, conducted and radiated electromagnetic emissions, and compatibility with the surrounding telecom equipment.
Decision on the data
Scale, change the configuration, continue verification or stop. The site data also forms the requirements for the configuration of the next power class and serves as a basis for refining the service regime at that site; long-term resource is established by extended operation. The same data forms the factual basis for calculating the operating economics of the pilot.
Full pilot framework, obligations of the parties and the application form
Energy changes the role of the site
A remote telecom site is designed around one primary function — to provide coverage in its service area. If an additional autonomous energy layer appears at the site, the same location can also be considered for additional functions without changing its geographic role. The pilot provides the operational data by which the next energy scale of the site, and the possible extension of its function, are determined.
First, power for the site as it is. Then, the option of doing more at that site.
What can be verified, and where it is verified
Each item below has its own page, where the subject is set out in full.
Endurance history
Conditions, duration and the boundaries of the endurance testing are published on a separate evidence page.
Open 02Intellectual property
Patent protection: ES2950176B2 (Granted), WO2024209235A1 (Published), EP4693872A1 (Under examination).
Open 03Independent verification protocol
The verification method and the external boundary of the device have their own canonical page.
Open 04Functional description
The operating route of the device through its stages.
OpenThe design range up to 10 kW refers to peak load. Other published characteristics are given in the context of the stated configuration; the independent verification method and the measurement boundaries are described on the technology validation page.
Current project stage: TRL 4 — Prototype Rebuild After Relocation.
Questions operators ask first
Each answer is written to stand on its own, without the surrounding text.
How much power does a telecom site consume?
According to GSMA Intelligence, the average mobile base station consumes around 5 kW, and sites are classified by peak power into groups of up to 2 kW, 2–5 kW and above 5 kW. The figure depends on the generations of mobile technology supported, network density, traffic and auxiliary infrastructure. Applicability is calculated from the actual profile of the specific site.
What happens if the total site load exceeds the pilot range?
The distribution of load across the DC branches is examined first. If the architecture of the site allows a coherent load group within the pilot range to be separated out, the first pilot is run on that group. The architecture of the whole site is not rebuilt in the process.
What does “up to 10 kW” mean?
The telecom architecture of VENDOR.Max is designed for peak loads up to 10 kW. The tested prototype class is 5 kW: the prototype underwent testing in the previous laboratory configuration.
Where does the unit connect relative to the rectifiers and the battery system?
Into the −48 V DC layer. The specific point is determined by the existing architecture of the site: the DC distribution, the rectifier system, the battery system, protection and the operator requirements for monitoring.
What happens when the unit is switched off?
During the pilot the existing energy infrastructure of the site is retained. The battery system and the backup generator remain in place and continue to perform their role.
Can VENDOR.Max interfere with telecom equipment?
VENDOR.Max is not a radio transmitter: its user interface at a telecom site is a −48 V DC power interface. Electromagnetic compatibility was accounted for during development and is verified for the specific installation configuration: shielding, filtering, earthing, interface layout and the measurement of conducted and radiated emissions are part of the pilot.
Can loads other than telecom be placed at the site?
That is a question of the energy budget of the site and of its function. The deployment of computing loads at the network edge is treated separately on the AI edge infrastructure page.
Does the radio equipment have to be replaced?
No. The telecom configuration is designed independently of the radio equipment vendor and sits at the energy layer of the site.
Where is the physics of the device described?
On a separate engineering page: how it works.
- GSMA Intelligence. Rural renewal: telcos and sustainable energy in Africa. November 2024.
- ETSI EN 300 132-2 V2.8.1 (2024-10). Power supply interface at the input of ICT equipment. Part 2: −48 V DC.
For the site engineer
The operating route of the device and its functional description.
OpenVerification protocol
The measurement method and the external boundary of the device.
OpenEdge computing
Deployment of computing loads at the network edge.
OpenFor investors
Stage, patent portfolio and the evidence base of the project.
OpenKnow the load profile of your site and applicability can be calculated
The first question is not the name of the operator or the number of towers. Six site parameters answer whether the site, or a defined load group, matches a 5 kW class pilot.
