Ethio Telecom and Huawei Pioneer Solar-on-Tower Solution to Drive Green ICT in Africa
Ethio Telecom, in partnership with Huawei, has successfully launched Africa’s first commercial Solar-on-Tower sites, marking a significant step towards greener, low-carbon telecommunications infrastructure.
The innovative solution integrates photovoltaic panels directly onto telecom towers, tackling the challenge of limited land and urban space for solar installations. According to Ethio Telecom, the initial rollout has already proven effective, with each site now able to generate and consume its own solar energy within just two days of installation.
The new system enables sites to sustain solar-powered operations for up to four hours, cutting diesel generator usage from six hours to two hours per day—a 40 per cent reduction in fuel consumption.
Thousands of telecom sites across Addis Ababa face space constraints that prevent the adoption of traditional ground-mounted solar systems. The Solar-on-Tower initiative offers a scalable and practical alternative, creating a new benchmark for sustainable energy solutions in Africa’s ICT sector.
Ethio Telecom and Huawei confirmed that they will continue to expand collaboration in clean energy deployment, with a long-term vision of enhancing network resilience while promoting a greener and more sustainable future for telecommunications in Ethiopia and across the continent.
