ABB solar solutions drive crucial research on climate change in Antarctica

With a solid track record in reducing its country's dependence on fossil fuels, the Uruguayan Antarctic Institute (IAU), together with the project leader, the Uruguayan services company UTE and the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM ), wanted to strengthen the use of photovoltaic systems at the Artigas base to further increase the use of renewable energy instead of using diesel backup generators.

The base allows the IAU to conduct a crucial scientific investigation on climate change, a fundamental resource since many of the world's largest global economies seek the goal of zero net carbon emissions by 2050.

In 2018, ABB solar solutions played a fundamental role in establishing the first solar energy system at Artigas Base, making it the natural partner for this second largest photovoltaic installation in 2019.

Together with the installer, Smart Green Uruguay (SGU), the team had to face rigorous and inhospitable conditions to complete the installation in just three days. With the first project, solar panels were mounted on building walls to minimize wind interference. However, this meant that the position of the panels did not have the optimum inclination of 55 ° North, which compromised performance. Applying this lesson learned in the second installation, the panels were mounted on the floor, which allowed to improve the position for sunlight in order to ensure maximum performance.

As a result, during daylight hours in summer, the optimized solar plant can provide up to 10 percent of the instantaneous power demanded by Artigas Base. It has already offset 0.8 metric tons of carbon emissions in the first two months since its installation, reducing the impact of Artigas on the delicate Antarctic ecosystem and generating operational savings (OPEX) that will be invested in critical scientific research.

After successfully demonstrating its reliability and durability in the first installation, ABB's solution included its solar inverter UNO-DM-6.0-TL (6 kW at 230 VAC single phase), MCB 40 A bipolar and RCD 40 A 300 mA bipolar, 24 panels Jinko 270W floor-mounted solar panels (12 modules per string) and a connection to the management portal of the ABB Aurora Vision plant via the inverter's integrated wi-fi interface.

The Aurora Vision portal provides the ability to remotely monitor the performance of the installation so that the equipment involved can compare the performance of the new solar plant on existing panels, obtaining valuable insights and data to inform future expansions. IAU has also made the portal available to offer online visibility in real time, which favors public involvement with the sustainability initiatives of the base.

ABB's "plug and play" solar inverter also significantly simplified the installation, and it only took three days to install the photovoltaic system. Due to rigorous and unpredictable weather conditions and the short time to complete the installation, ABB preconfigured the equipment by testing them in a laboratory that recreated the adverse Antarctic environment. ABB also provided extensive training for installers and real-time assistance for SGU during installation thanks to the Aurora Vision management platform.