Upper Red Mountain power outages may occur this winter affecting FM radio coverage in Aspen.
Upper Red is a solar powered telecommunications site. During heavy snow, ice or long periods of cloudy skies, the solar panels struggle to generate enough power to both charge our batteries and operate the equipment we have there. The site is very remote so it is difficult to access and clear off the panels during winter – something our team cannot commit to after every storm.
On the bright side, the batteries do recharge quickly under sunny skies so the site should restore itself soon after the sun comes out! We are planning an upgrade to our solar array and generator in Summer 2022 which should lessen the chances of outages, especially during the short days and low sun angles of winter.
