Smartglow: new green energy system being tested for SKA telescopes

A new Portuguese project has been awarded €1.9m by the Portuguese Innovation Agency to investigate new solar-powered flexible solutions for remote sites, with weak or nonexistent connection to the power grid, such as the SKA telescope sites in Australia and South Africa.

Smartglow (Smart Green Energy system for AA-Low) is led by engineering and public works specialists dstgroup, in collaboration with the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science, Instituto de Telecomunicações, and Instituto Politécnico de Beja from ENGAGE SKA. Its aim is to develop a renewable, scalable, reliable electric power supply system with a reduced operating cost and reduced carbon footprint, key characteristics expected for major research infrastructures and future telecommunication and industrial facilities.

Smartglow explores the concept of smart microgrids from the industrial sector. To develop and test the system, the consortium decided to adopt the demanding requirements for power quality and energy autonomy of SKA equipment.

“Sustainability and minimising the environmental impact of the SKA telescopes has been at the core of our thinking for many years. As a result we are well advanced with preparations for the procurement of power with a high renewable energy content, so it’s great to see a proof of concept project under way to help de-risk the future procurement process,” says SKAO Power Engineer Adriaan Schutte. “The SKA Observatory is collaborating with Smartglow to demonstrate the feasibility of providing its telescopes with affordable renewable energy, while operating in an environment that’s highly sensitive to electromagnetic interference.”

The project will implement a pilot, standalone off-grid power system supplying a small SKA-Low prototype station of up to 32 antennas located in Portugal. The system will comprise a photovoltaic production unit as well as a storage unit and a new generation of power converters with reduced electromagnetic emissions. All electronics, including the storage unit and converters, will be housed in a shielded enclosure which will prevent electromagnetic interference with the radio telescopes’ observations. The system will also incorporate the latest smartgrid solutions – software to manage the flow and storage of energy.

“The SKA is an exciting project and will be one of the greatest scientific infrastructures created by humankind,” says João Matos, Executive Board Member of dstgroup. “Smartglow intends to develop and implement a complex integrated energy and telecommunications solution that will be able to respond not only to the SKA telescopes’ demanding requirements, but will also be able to provide solutions to other demanding off-grid energy systems, with a reduced carbon footprint.”

By Domingos Barbosa (It) and Clara Gouveia (Inesc-Tec)