The National Science Foundation has awarded a Major Research Initiative (MRI) grant to UNAVCO and the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology to develop a power and communications system that will improve remote autonomous geophysical observations in the polar environments. Our goal is to provide a standardized approach to scaling infrastructure support designs to the seismological and geodetic community's particular experimental designs. Through testing in each facility's cold chambers and through field trials at test-beds located in Antarctica, the MRI project will investigate optimal battery designs (both rechargeable and non-rechargeable), power systems (solar, wind), environmental conditioning, and telemetry systems appropriate for these extreme conditions. The aim of this collaborative project is to not only take best advantage of the field engineering experiences of the two consortia, but to also create a means of incorporating expert design contributions and exchanging ideas, designs and experiences with the entire polar research community.