Ethio Telecom, in collaboration with Huawei, has successfully completed the first commercial deployment of the Solar-on-Tower solution in Africa, marking a milestone in the continent’s drive toward greener, low-carbon telecommunications.
The Solar-on-Tower solution integrates photovoltaic panels directly onto telecom towers, overcoming space and land limitations that often prevent the adoption of traditional solar installations in urban areas. Ethio Telecom’s initial deployment demonstrated that a site can be equipped and operational within just two days, generating its own solar power to support network operations.
With the system in place, sites can now operate on solar energy for up to four hours daily, reducing reliance on diesel generators. Diesel usage has been cut from six hours to two hours per site — a 40% reduction in fuel consumption — significantly lowering both costs and emissions.
Thousands of telecom sites in Addis Ababa face space restrictions that make conventional ground-based solar installations impractical. The Solar-on-Tower initiative provides a scalable and efficient path for Africa’s telecom industry to integrate clean energy in densely populated or space-constrained settings.
Looking ahead, Ethio Telecom and Huawei plan to expand deployments and jointly develop high-quality ICT energy infrastructure. Their shared goal is to drive low-carbon transformation, improve network resilience, and set a new technological benchmark for sustainable telecom operations across Africa.
