Design, Installation and Practical Evaluation of Photovoltaic Energy Systems for Remote Microwave Repeaters

The present work describes the main problems - and their corresponding solutions - in the implementation of photovoltaic energy systems for remote microwave repeaters. Initially, it was necessary to show the operational personnel the photovoltaic systems advantages of reliability and low maintenance requirements. The first goal was the installation of twenty "Photovoltaic Economizers Systems" in remote stations in the Amazon Jungle, operating during the solar day, instead of traditional diesel generators, rectifiers and batteries. The diesel consumption in these stations was reduced of more than 40%. Then, one could think about "pure photovoltaic systems". A computer method was improved for South America conditions, Environmental conditioning for telecommunication equipment and batteries were given a special treatment, using natural air convection. A new microwave link was installed, with ten "pure photovoltaic" powered stations. The last step consisted of evaluating the photovoltaic system by means of a microprocessor controlled equipment that measures and registers, in a magnetic tape, parameters as solar radiation, currents, voltages and temperatures. The objective is to adjust the initial computer simulation to the practical values and thereby improve the systems performance.