More than any environmental statement, the partnership between renewable energy and oil & gas is based on practical, pragmatic need. By nature, oil & gas production and pipeline operations are in remote locations and usually far beyond access to any grid electrical services. That means vital functions including measurement and control, injection pumping, security monitoring and many others, must depend on stand-alone, on-site electricity generation. As operators are learning, there’s no better way to produce on-site electricity at their remote facilities than with solar power.
Unlike generators and wind turbines, photovoltaic (PV) solar has no moving parts—so consequently, no down time. And solar electric systems never need fueling or an overhaul. That’s why oil & gas operators are increasingly specifying solar electric systems into their projects, and Morningstar charge controllers at the core of those systems.
In such a system, the charge controller is both “heart and brains” of the outfit, controlling the PV/solar-generated electricity flowing from the panels, or modules, into batteries for storage as well as the DC output to power connected loads, maintaining both system operation and battery health. In oil & gas operations, two things matter: safety and reliability. On the safety front, Morningstar meets critical industry safety standards for hazardous location use (see below). And with over four million Morningstars installed in the field since 1993, there’s no brand in the solar industry that’s more proven or accepted in terms of reliability.
Select charge controller models have:
During the day:
During the night:
The solar charge controller keeps working—by preventing any “reverse current” flowing from the batteries to the PV modules, and (if equipped with load control) disconnect power to the loads if the battery voltage dips too far, which can quickly kill batteries.
This is not a quality difference, but a function of prevalent solar conditions and location considerations.
All Morningstar charge controllers, regardless of their technology or design, built to one industry-leading quality standard. They all have “over-spec’d” components, incorporate advanced electronic design and thermal engineering, and have no cooling fans to fail—unlike all the in-kind competition. Because of this, over four million Morningstars have been sold since 1993 and are the first choice for leading solar installers in mission-critical installations around the globe.
Watch the recorded webinar to see how Morningstar solar charge controllers are used to charge batteries and help provide power at remote oil and gas sites.
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