Axpo unit installs solar panels inside satellite dish in Switzerland

Swiss utility Axpo Holding AG said on Tuesday that its subsidiary CKW had installed solar panels on the inside surface of a satellite dish for a customer in Leuk, Switzerland.

Data centre and teleport company Leuk TDC has become the first in Europe to repurpose a disused satellite dish to produce solar power on site, Axpo said.

CKW also installed a 550-kWp solar power system on the rooftop of the Leuk data centre, which with the panels on the dish, makes Leuk TDC self-sufficient for the most part.

The site is located at around 1,000 meters above sea level, so both the data centre and the satellite dishes are above the fog line.

Inside the dish, snow hardly sticks to the solar panels, Axpo said.

One dish can support 116 kWp of panels, according to the project fact sheet.

Thanks to this project, Leuk TDC can generate around 550,000 kWh per year from the rooftop array and around 110,000 kWh/year from the satellite dish.

Leuk TDC signed a contract with CKW to purchase electricity from the whole setup at a fixed price and for a fixed period. CKW is responsible for maintenance and service work.

The partners are planning to add solar panels on two more satellite dishes and on open spaces in Leuk. The building permit for the second dish is already in place, with installation scheduled for spring, Axpo added.

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