Photovoltaic experiences in the electric supply for relay telecommunication station in Spain

The are many reasons why Spain is considered one of the leaders in photovoltaic installations for telecommunications; plentiful sunshine, low population density, mountainous terrain and rapid economic growth during the last 20 years. This has resulted in the installation of hundreds of mountain-top relay stations. In many instances the transfer of energy via photovoltaics (PV) has proved cheaper than via the electricity grid, but because initial doubts concerning its reliability and correct functioning, this was not an argument for the installation of PV. The problems in PV are never due to the solar modules or the batteries, but always because of the sizing or of electronic parts such as control charge regulators, inverters or data collection system