Solar Chernobyl’s Solar Farm covers 1.6 hectares of land, uses 3762 solar modules, and produces 1-megawatts of power. (Image credit: Solar Chernobyl)
During the night of April 26 (1986), workers at the No. 4 light water nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant performed a safety test that simulated a station-wide power blackout, and safety systems were intentionally turned off to test the plant’s backup safety systems.
Unfortunately, the plant itself was flawed in its design, and operators tasked with arranging the core, did so without following a prescribed checklist, which led to a deadly steam explosion and an open-air graphite fire that killed thousands and rendered the land around the city of Pripyat uninhabitable.
The entire site of reactor No. 4 has since been encased in a giant shelter to prevent leaking contaminants from escaping into the environment. While the area won’t be habitable for another 24,000 years, the land isn’t going to waste as the Solar Chernobyl Project- a joint German and Ukrainian venture- has installed a solar farm that provides power to around 2,000 homes, not in the exclusion zones.
Part of Solar Chernobyl’s solar panel array, located just 300-feet from the disaster site. (Image credit: Solar Chernobyl)
Solar Chernobyl installed 3762 solar panels in a 4-acre area, and produces 1-megawatt of power, with 1024Mwh expected annually. The Ukrainian government is offering the land around the disaster site for incredibly low prices and will pay a premium for any power produced there (roughly 50% above the European average).
While the first stage of the project is in operation, the government has offered over 6,000 acres for solar energy alone, which translates to around 100MW of potential power production. Considering the area already has the power infrastructure with connections to the local energy grid, covering those thousands of acres in solar panels could be easily achieved.
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