Australian solar energy specialist, Solar Sales, was chosen to supply eight solar power systems to local Omani telecommunications carrier, Omantel, to help increase the mobile phone coverage network in several regions around a mountain range south of the capital, Masqat.

The Sultanate of Oman occupies the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula and borders Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the West and the Republic of Yemen in the South and is an emerging, key area in Mid-East oil production.

Omantel had chosen eight very remote locations for its power stations, of which seven were only accessible by helicopter. The task for Solar Sales was to design a standalone solar power system which took several factors into consideration including microwave power requirements, battery types and sizes, frame and foundation design and expansion possibilities.

Solar Sales senior engineer Durmus Yildiz designed the systems ranging from 1,440 to 2,880 watts peak solar power.

"If you are paying $10,000 per day for a helicopter you better make sure you have considered every possible item which may cause delays," said Yildiz.

Before Solar Sales' equipment was flown to site the company's partner, Specialized Services, had the very hard task to level the mountain tops and put concrete foundations in place.

With temperatures going up to 48 deg C in summer the electronic equipment also required a housing arrangement which can protect them from harsh conditions and keep them cool without using energy-intensive air conditioning units.

The solution was to use passive cooled shelters where the energy to condition an area is supplied almost entirely by the thermal energy available from the temperature variations which occur between day and night and between seasons.

Yildiz said that the safety margins for the design were above industry standards and with the selection of simple but field-proven components there won't be any weak mobile phone signals along the Hajar and Jabal mountain.