Future solar uses will be widespread, including military

By Donna Crane –

Last of two parts

John Fialka’s, online report about the future of the solar industry for Scientific American (E&E News) continues this week.

“Scientists are developing flexible, thin films that will be more resilient and have wider uses than current solar technology.

“The military learned in Iraq, and later in Afghanistan, that soldiers in forward-positioned units sometimes have to carry 80 to 100 pounds of gear. A substantial portion consists of batteries for a variety of equipment.

“That’s just the beginning of an array of logistical problems. The batteries had to be recharged by diesel-powered generators that in turn required expensive flights or truck convoys to deliver more fuel. Those convoys were frequently attacked.

“The new study asserts that although emerging lightweight and flexible thin-film solar technologies may be more expensive to make than conventional silicon, their lighter weight and greater resilience will fetch higher prices, improve logistics, and, in the Navy’s case, save lives.

“Lighter-weight materials and packaging may eventually pay for itself in rooftop solar by reducing installation costs on houses, but they will likely penetrate other solar markets more quickly.

“The scientists foresee more solar uses in buildings, where lightweight solar materials can be introduced on windows, in shingles, and on other architectural features. Growing demand will reduce their costs, while the recent development of flexible and scratch-proof glass may extend their market reach.

“The NREL report notes widening uses for lightweight and more compact solar power in small space satellites called cubesats that are now proliferating. Reese noted that electric vehicles such as the Toyota Prius come with a solar-powered option and a small fan that blows accumulated heat out of parked cars, a step that saves electricity and thus extends the range of EVs.

“Another opening for more efficient and smaller solar units discussed in the study is ‘indoor light harvesting,’ or generating power from a mix of interior lighting. Such an option may work in office buildings that have both outdoor light and overhead fluorescent tubes. There, small solar-powered devices could turn the light back into electricity to power electronic devices or an array of sensors that would not need to be close to an electric outlet.

“Reese noted that further uses for small solar-powered units will come in the development of drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles, such as balloons that were used last year in storm-crippled Puerto Rico to quickly restore internet service for E-mail and texts.

“The steerable balloons (see page 12), developed by Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, were called experimental technology. In the future, though, similar vehicles could be useful to help cities and states recover from power outages.

“As one expert put it, ‘Think of each balloon as a cell tower in the stratosphere.’

“For Reese, the continuing evolution of cheaper and more omnipresent solar power will lead to its application to technologies that haven’t been previously economical. One such example: Desalination plants in the drought-plagued western United States.

“‘Similarly,’ he noted, ‘if you worry about things like accumulating CO2 in the atmosphere, if your energy was cheap enough, there may be a more energy-intensive process such as sucking CO2 out of the air and solidifying it,’” Fialka wrote.