The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) is helping us understand how greenhouse gas emissions from the land and water surface influence, and are affected by, global climate change.

To do this, instrumentation needs to be sited in remote places, where there’s no power and the weather is often harsh. 

After evaluating Leading Edge’s off-grid power systems, UKCEH decided on a bespoke off-grid solution tailored to their specific needs and importantly was easy to install by their scientists in the “field”.

“Our instrumentation is mostly in remote and inaccessible locations so getting things in and out is difficult,” said Dr Ross Morrison, Biometeorologist at UKCEH.

The equipment is monitoring the exchange of greenhouse gases, energy and water between the land surface and the atmosphere using a mix of Eddy covariance flux towers, greenhouse gas auto-chambers and weather stations with a continuous power draw of 1 - 3 amps.

Working closely with the Leading Edge design team, UKCEH were able to achieve a system that met their specific requirements. When designing a system, there are a number of features that can be added. These different options were presented with their associated cost points and UKCEH choose the best fit for the various installations. 

Power generation is from solar panels and depending on the location Leading Edge’s own robust wind turbines, with the resulting electricity stored in deep-cycle AGM batteries housed in IP65 enclosures. 

Each system has the option of being remotely monitored via a Web interface to check how the system is performing with the ability to receive alarm signals and change system settings. The enclosures also contain the control equipment, isolation switches, DC-to-DC conversion, fuses and low voltage disconnect.