Is it reliable to build a photovoltaic power station in Antarctica?

Endless white snow, pure and transparent icebergs, dreamy and beautiful aurora, and tranquil beauty everywhere, this is Antarctica. The average thickness of the ice layer is 1,880 meters, the average temperature is minus 25 degrees Celsius, and storms can occur at any time. This is also Antarctica, and every step of enjoyment is accompanied by danger.

Scientific research is of great significance in such a place with high altitude, low temperature and unpredictable weather. There must be sufficient energy supply for scientific research stations and scientific researchers.

In the past, energy supply mainly relied on fuel oil, including diesel, gasoline, liquefied gas, etc. According to the information provided to this newspaper by the China Polar Research Center, the Great Wall Station and Zhongshan Station need to replenish at least 350 tons of high-standard diesel every year, and also need a small amount of gasoline, liquefied gas, etc. The inland team survey and Kunlun Station construction in 2008-2009 were equipped with a total of 160 tons of aviation kerosene. These fuels are mainly used for power generation, heating, transportation machinery, etc.

However, these non-clean energy sources cause certain pollution to Antarctica. Now many countries are making full use of Antarctic wind energy and photovoltaic resources during the polar day to develop an environmentally friendly energy supply system combining wind power and photovoltaics.

How to build a photovoltaic power station in Antarctica?

The biting strong winds, extremely low temperatures, and the extreme changes in sunshine hours: up to 16 hours in summer and less than 2 hours in winter, forced the construction workers to complete the photovoltaic power station in a very short time before the seasonal changes and the severe winter cold.

In order to withstand the strong winds and heavy snow in Antarctica, the supporting structure of the components can use aluminum rails to fix the anti-vibration system to the wall of the machine room, and the inverter can be installed in the machine room to prevent erosion by strong winds, snow and rain.

As for the operation and maintenance of photovoltaic power stations, the remote monitoring function can be used to deeply analyze the operation of the photovoltaic system and use machines for remote operation to troubleshoot.

The Uruguayan government has built a photovoltaic system at the Artigas base in Antarctica to use solar energy to provide it with electricity, and will upgrade the test array to 100KW in 2019.

What problems can you imagine when building a photovoltaic power station in Antarctica? Is there a better construction and operation method? If you have any good suggestions, please reply to tell us~