Projects

The Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), formerly known as the Nevada Test Site, is located just 65 miles outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is a 1,360-square-mile area of land which, for 41 years, served as the literal “ground zero” for nuclear testing in the continental United States. From 1951-1992, 928 nuclear tests were conducted at the site, including 100 atmospheric tests.

Many of the atmospheric tests, as well as some of those conducted underground that lost containment, resulted in contamination of downwind areas off-site, exposing nearby communities to radioactive fallout, and causing significant concern and fear in the affected populations regarding the potential for adverse health effects.

Additionally, communities downgradient from the NNSS had concerns about the contamination of groundwater from underground testing at the site and its potential to affect public water sources in the future.

Application: Telecom
Location: Paterson Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada
Year: 2015
Product: TriStar 600-Vdc charge controllers and ground-fault protectors
System size: 15.6 kW
Partners include: NorthwesTel, Howell-Mayhew Engineering, Action Electric, JA Solar

An off-grid telecom system at Paterson Lake in Canada’s Northwest Territories traditionally relied on a diesel generator for electricity. Despite uneven slabs of rock, Howell Mayhew Engineering and Action Electric developed a 15-kW solar PV system to reduce generator use by 60%. Workers dropped off equipment from a helicopter because of no road access for 80 km. The installation uses black 260-W JA Solar modules and batteries for clean, reliable cost-effective solar electricity. The project also incorporated Morningstar 600-Vdc ground-fault protectors and charge controllers. Now, the system only requires the generator during the winter.

Find out more about Morningstar’s range of products, including all of our 60 amp solar charge controllers.

Photo courtesy of Howell-Mayhew Engineering

Application: Telecom
Location: Wolverine Creek, Northwest Territories, Canada
Year: 2015
Product: TriStar 600-Vdc charge controllers and ground-fault protectors
System size: 15.6 kW of solar
Partners include: NorthwesTel, Howell-Mayhew Engineering, Action Electric, Conergy

Canada’s vast Northwest Territories encompass large areas of forests, lakes and tundra. Howell Mayhew Engineering developed a telecom PV system on the top of a mountain at Wolverine Creek near Great Bear Lake. The system included 60 Conergy 260-W multicrystalline-silicon modules and six Morningstar 600-Vdc ground-fault protectors and charge controllers.

Photo courtesy of Howell-Mayhew Engineering,

Application: Telecom
Location: Weasel Lake, Yukon, Canada
Year: 2015
Product: TriStar 600-Vdc charge controllers and ground-fault protectors
System size: 10 kW of solar PV
Partners include: NorthwesTel, Howell-Mayhew Engineering, Action Electric

A solar-powered telecom system on a mountaintop at Weasel Lake reduces reliance on diesel. The goal is to eliminate the use of generators for six summer months of the year. Using a generator only half of the year significantly reduces fuel and helicopter-transportation costs. High-voltage TriStar 600-Vdc charge controllers and ground-fault protectors allow wiring sub-arrays straight into the charge controllers without any combiner boxes, which lowers costs by reducing installation time on site.

Photo courtesy of Howell-Mayhew Engineering

Application: Telecom
Location: Kenya
Year: 2019
Product: TriStar MPPTr
Partners include: Mawingu Networks, Microsoft

Half of the world doesn’t have access to the internet, let alone cell service. To address this issue, Microsoft partnered with start-up Mawingu Networks to use TV waves to deliver affordable internet virtually anywhere. Internet cafes and other public hotspots in Kenya help increase communication and opportunity, changing people’s lives. For example, doctors from various clinics are able to hold weekly online meetings with the main hospital rather than traveling for days to meet in person. Such virtual connections have become even more essential during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The internet hotspots are driven by solar-powered main access points, the largest of which can service up to 1,000 people. Morningstar TriStars keep the access points operating reliably to ensure critical systems remain available.

Application: Rural Development
Location: Bandung, Indonesia
Year: 2015
Product: TriStar MPPT, Relay Driver
System size: 3 kW of solar with 17.2 kW of battery storage
Partners include: Panasonic

Panasonic’s Power Supply Container is a self-contained solar power plant designed to supply reliable electricity to emerging regions and remote island communities. Each comes with 12 Panasonic HIT240 solar modules that generate approximately 3 kW of electricity. Also, 24 lead-acid batteries are capable of storing 17.2 kWh of energy.

Panasonic chose to test the off-grid containers in Indonesia as part of the country’s Educational Environment Improvement Policy for Isolated Islands. Many of the country’s approximately 13,000 islands have little or no access to electricity because of power generation and development issues. Installations at elementary schools provide electricity for lighting, computers, televisions and running water. Morningstar products help control the units, enabling local electricity.

Application: Telecom
Location: Lake Havasu City, Arizona and Twentynine Palms, California
Product: TriStar MPPT 60
System size: 7.2 kW of solar
Partners include: Verizon Wireless, SunWize Technologies, PV Pros, East Penn Manufacturing

Solar power helps two Verizon Wireless generator-hybrid cell towers with microwave uplink systems save 70% on fuel consumption. Each system includes 7.2 kW of solar with several TriStar MPPT 60 controllers and East Penn AGM batteries.

Application: Telecom
Location: Oregon
Year: 2012
Product: TriStar MPPT
System size: Two 235-W solar panels
Partners include: Rural Technology Group, SolarWorld

A Morningstar TriStar MPPT controller helps distribute internet services to a rural community in Central Oregon where many residents live without a telephone or cell service. Morningstar partnered with Rural Technology Group for an experimental project to expand internet service in rural areas with rugged terrain.

The team successfully installed a solar-powered microwave relay site on top of a mountain. A high-speed connection VOIP service now gives the community access to lifesaving emergency calls.

So far, the project has survived hurricane-strength winds, periods of dark and snowy days and temperatures in excess of 105°F to -4°F (41°C to -20°C). This relay also cost less than $3,500 to construct and commission.

-Photos courtesy of Rural Technology Group

Application: All
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Year: 2013
Product: All
Partners include: TÜV Rheinland

When the people responsible for certifying compliance and safety for the industry want to profile your brand for a case study, you know you’re doing something right.  At Morningstar, we’re proud that TÜV Rheinland—an international organization at the forefront of testing, standards and certification for everything from consumer products to industrial and medical devices—selected us for its own case study in solar.

As the case study notes, “in the solar industry, standards and regulations change quickly, with new standards emerging at a rapid pace.” Morningstar’s advanced designs and proven reliability provided TÜV with an ideal partner to showcase in this category.

-Photo courtesy of TÜV Rheinland