Pop-up mobile solar PV could replace diesel generators

Pop-up mobile solar PV could soon replace diesel generators as a temporary power supply for military operations, disaster relief efforts and music festivals, thanks to Canberra-based ECLIPS Engineering.

The company has designed, manufactured and tested its rapidly redeployable Container Roll Out Solar System (CROSS) — a factory assembled, relocatable solar array that has been developed to reduce the logistics challenges associated with deploying solar PV generators. Designed to fit inside a standard shipping container, the CROSS units can be stacked up to seven units high. The systems come available in 20′ and 40′ configurations, with a maximum output of 2175 W and 4350 W delivered in minutes ready for connection to an inverter.

The project has received $289,725 in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said the CROSS units could see solar energy delivering temporary power as required in a remote location or an emergency situation. “CROSS units can be deployed in off-grid and fringe-of-grid areas, displace or offset diesel consumption and improve the security of existing networks,” he said.

“These renewable options can reduce some of the barriers to entry for potential renewable power users in remote locations, including short project durations and where power systems need to be periodically relocated,” Frischknecht said.

“Renewable energy can provide an emissions-free, silent energy system that could replace diesel generators in the long run.”

The project opens up markets to the renewables industry, including defence, disaster recovery, humanitarian, construction and temporary network augmentation.

ECLIPS Managing Director Shaun Moore said that the original objective of CROSS was to improve power self-sufficiency for defence.

“One of our early objectives was to provide rapidly deployable utility-scale PV generators to improve the self-sufficiency of Defence’s deployed forward operating bases. Diesel consumption related to the provision of electricity can account for up to 70% of deployed forces’ fuel usage and is a significant cost driver. More importantly, deploying CROSS to forward operating bases also reduces the frequency of convoys for fuel resupply, which reduces the threat to soldiers in contested environments.

“These same logistics efficiencies and benefits are transferable to commercial and utility customers in remote areas of Australia,” he said.