Are Longyearbyen and Svalbard facing an energy transition?

Top image: Longyearbyen and Svalbard are facing an energy transition. This is the background for the cooperation agreement between UNIS, Store Norske and SINTEF. Photo: Graham Gilbert/UNIS. Longyearbyen and Svalbard are facing a huge energy transition.

Could a new solar project help remote Arctic communities transition to green energy?

Norway has installed the world’s northernmost ground solar panels in its Svalbard archipelago, a region plunged in round-the-clock darkness all winter. The pilot project could help remote Arctic communities transition to green energy.

How polar climate affect bifacial solar power production?

The Polar climate have severable favourable characteristics for solar power production, namely the effect of increased solar cell voltage with decreasing temperature, and high-albedo providing significant amounts of ground-reflected irradiance which can be utilized by bifacial solar panels (Frimannslund et al., 2021).

Do snowdrifts affect solar power plants in polar climates?

In this study we show that snowdrifts pose a significant challenge for solar power plants in Polar climates as they can grow to cover the plant, resulting in reduced power production and an imposed mechanical load on the PV arrays.