Rovaniemi offers a wide variety of Christmas-related attractions, including SantaPark and the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel. Both depend on snowy white winters to be enjoyed to the fullest; therefore, they care deeply for the fragile nature of the Arctic region. The installation of the solar panels dramatically decreases the carbon footprint of the attractions, thereby also reducing the energy costs.
Temperature changes between -40° and +50°.
135 NU-RD300 Sharp panels with a total power plant size of 40.5 kW were installed on three different buildings. The goal of the project was to deliver a premium solar photovoltaics (PV) system to a client in the Arctic Circle that required the modules to withstand extreme temperature conditions with temperature changes between -40° and +50°.
Sleek black design
The panels of the NU-RD series (300 W, 60 cells, 18,3% efficiency) were chosen because of their ability to withstand those conditions as well as their sleek, black design. As the panels on the roofs are seen by the hotel guests, they should be visually appealing as well. The cost of the whole project will amortise within nine years.
In total, 135 panels were installed on three buildings: 90 panels on the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel, 30 on “Santa Claus Secret Forest” and 15 on the “Arctic Forest Spa”.
The project started in April 2018, when Ilkka Länkinen (CEO SantaPark) met with Jouni Penttinen (CEO PlayGreen Finland Oy) at a Solar Fair in Helsinki. PlayGreen offered a design draft and a few weeks after the first contact, the deal was finalised. The installation was finished by early August 2018.
24/7 energy production in mid-summer
Due to the regional weather conditions of the Arctic Circle, there are many sunlight hours during the summer months but very few during the winter. The panel layout of the hotel was, thus, designed to be effective and to ensure energy production from early morning to late evening with one half of the panels facing southeast and the other one facing southwest. As the sun does not set for more than a month in mid-summer, the production goes on for weeks non-stop. The installer PlayGreen calls this ‘the non-stop solar plant in the Arctic’.
Jouni Pentinen, CEO of installing company PlayGreen says: “The panel layout of the hotel was designed to be effective and to ensure good production from early morning to late evening. As the sun does not set for more than a month in mid-summer, the set-up will continuously produce energy 24/7. We could call this “the non-stop solar plant in the Arctic”. (HCN)
Stay informed, get our free newsletter twice a week. Register here
More useful information:
https://www.pveurope.eu/News/Installation/Solar-power-for-the-home-of-Santa-Claus-in-Greenland
https://www.pveurope.eu/News/Solar-Generator/Solar-energy-records-to-be-broken-in-winter
https://www.pveurope.eu/solar-modules/finland-largest-solar-plant-5600-mwh-year
