Bird Island Research Station Decarbonisation

17 Apr 25

News

Wind & Sun Supply Solar Micro-Grid System for British Antarctic Survey Bird Island Research Station

Bird Island Research Station is an important centre for research into bird and seal biology. Lying off the north-west tip of South Georgia in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, Bird Island is one of the richest wildlife sites in the world. The research station has been active since 1957 and is accessible only by ship. It was completely redeveloped in 2005 and today provides accommodation for up to 14 staff.

In order to decarbonise the station, different types of renewable energy were considered for summer power generation, and ultimately solar was selected as the best option for the project.

In 2020 Wind & Sun were chosen to work with British Antarctic Survey (BAS) to supply a solar photovoltaic and energy storage system integrated with the station’s existing 25kW diesel gensets and BAS staff visited to see the Sunny Island back-up system and discuss previous island electrification projects.

After three Antarctic summer seasons of work on the island, the project was commissioned on schedule in January 2025 with great success. This was despite the challenges of the remoteness, operating in a difficult environment, with severe weather and limited use of vehicles. All building roofs also needed significant strengthening so the solar panels could be installed.

Project delivery

The Bird Island Solar PV project started in 2021/22. Due to a highly corrosive environment, with high wind speeds and high snow load in winter, the polar estates team had to develop a more robust design than a standard solar array.

The first season (22/23) involved buying parts and shipping them to Bird Island station. These included photovoltaic panels, fixings and the construction of a battery storage building.

268 x 370Wp REC TP4 Solar PV panels (99.16kWp in total) were installed covering all existing roofs of the station using a Schletter mounting system using hanger bolts & universal adaptor/cross connectors or Single Fix Pro.

The battery storage system itself was installed over the next season (23/24) and completed/commissioned 14th January 2025.

This comprises SMA Multicluster Box MCBox-12, 9x Sunny Island inverters and 277kWh lithium ion battery store using 18x BYD 15.4kWh LVL modules; SMA Sunny Tripower inverters for the PV and remote monitoring provided using an SMA Data Manager.

In between stages the BAS team made further visits to Wind & Sun where they were able to get answers to detailed questions regarding the installation together with receiving commissioning training and advice.

Wind & Sun continue to provide remote support if required.

Benefits of the project

The panels can provide most of the station’s power demand during the summer, reducing the need for the station generators, while excess solar power is stored in the batteries for the dark hours.

Overall, this solar energy system is expected to:

Reduce fuel use and carbon emissions of the station by 50% annually, with carbon savings of at least 50 tCO2e
Reduce demand of refuelling the station and lead to wider carbon reduction from ship operations whilst avoiding shipping time for refuelling.
Reduce environmental risks, such as fuel spills
Increasing the station’s energy security and resilience
Reduce operational and maintenance costs

Future Plans

As part of their net zero efforts, the BAS team is identifying additional ways to reduce energy demand and improve energy efficiency on the station. In addition, upgrading and integrating the domestic hot water system to the solar-battery capability is expected to maximise the use of solar generation and reduce further fuel use and carbon emissions associated with heating and hot water services.

Photos: Courtesy Dave Blaylock, BAS

Products used in this system

SMA Data Manager M

£1,422.51

In combination with the new Sunny Portal powered by ennexOS, the Data Manager M optimises communication, monitoring and control of PV systems.

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SMA Sunny Island 6.0/8.0H

2 models available

From £2,986.49

The Sunny Island 6.0H / 8.0H supports a wide range of on-grid and off-grid applications

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SMA Sunny Island MultiCluster Boxes

3 models available

From £4,164.13

Install large off-grid systems with minimum effort. The Multicluster-Boxes for the Sunny Island inverters are the ideal solution for the easy installation of island and hybrid systems from 30 up to 300 kW. They include integrated generator and load shedding contactors for AC distribution. For an example of Multi-cluster boxes in use see Isle of Eigg project.

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