In a salutary lesson for anyone thinking that installing solar panels is a bit too much effort, the British Antarctic Survey has completed the installation of a solar PV system on an island 1,000km south-east of the Falklands in the Southern Atlantic Ocean.
That said, the competition of the scheme marks the end of a five-year project, which has taken three Antarctic summer seasons of work on Bird Island, 500m off the coast of South Georgia and which is accessible only ship.
Solar panels now cover every inch of roof space at the station, which required the roofs themselves to be reinforced to take the weight.
A total of 268 panels have been installed, along with a lithium iron battery system of 277kWh nominal capacity.
During the summer, the panels will be able to supply most of the power that the station needs and it is expected to reduce fuel use and carbon emissions on the station by 50%, with direct carbon savings of around tCO2e.
The £500,000 scheme was funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC).
Solar panels have also been put to work – albeit in much smaller number – at a second location, known as the Sky Blu runway.
Designed by the BAS’s Electronics Engineering team, the system is made up of an aluminium A-frame which has three 300Wp solar panels on each side, connected to four batteries, as pictured below.
The frame has been positioned so that the panels are facing north and south for maximum power generation during the summer months when it is operational. The whole structure has been designed to be easily disassembled and placed into storage when the winter months arrive and the camp is closed down.
The system currently provides round the clock power for the camp’s radio communication systems, including a laptop which is permanently ready for use. As the system can also generate more power than is currently there is future scope for reducing fuel and carbon emissions even further.
Nopi Exizidou, Head of Net Zero Transition says: ‘It’s incredible to see how far we’ve come in the last few years. In spite of all the challenges of working in a difficult environment and in a context where it is difficult to decarbonise, we’ve reached another milestone in our journey towards net zero.’
Peter Smith, Head of Polar Estates says: ‘This has been a huge achievement for the BAS Polar Estates Team. It’s been amazing to see this project as it developed from initial design to powering Bird Island station.’
Photos: British Antarctic Survey.