Flexible Solar Panel

FTL Solar

FTL Solar’s 20ft by 20ft PowerMod (1,200 watts) is the world’s first commercially available flexible solar panel. The company produces the fabrics that make electricity when exposed to sunlight using Ascent Solar modules, and manufactures rental and military tents and other fabric-based products out of them.

The PowerMod is a 20ft x 20ft tensioned PV fabric power supply structure supported by a single, guyed pole. It is the fastest portable kilowatt (1.2 kilowatts) of solar power available, and is structurally engineered to resist wind loads for temporary and interim installations.

It can provide sufficient electricity from sunlight to power lighting, fans, cell phones, iPods and laptop computers for a squad of solders. Alternatively, it can be used to power 12V DC refrigeration and air conditioning equipment.

The PowerMod reduces the need for portable generators and gasoline, thereby reducing the need for delivery of gasoline convoys. Truck convoys are susceptible to roadside bombs, the biggest killer of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The PowerMod encourages and recognizes increasing levels of on-site renewable energy self-supply. It is the first large scale, mass-produced fabric product that reduces the environmental and economic impacts associated with fossil fuel energy use.

The folded-up flexible PV fabric top weighs 90 lbs., and the telescoped-down support column and guying kit (including steel anchors) weighs an additional 75 lbs. The PowerMod sets up with two solders in 15 minutes.

The PowerMod produces 1.2 kilowatts of power. The module’s total energy output is 4.5 kilowatt hours per day. Daily energy created can be calculated using 5.0 hours of sunlight (Standard Test Conditions) and a total electrical system efficiency factor of 75 percent. Power is stored in batteries.

Multiple PowerMods can be installed at one location to create a portable power plant. An installation using 22 modules, for example, can produce 100 kilowatts per day.

The PowerMod has been successfully demonstrated at the Association of the United States Army convention in West Palm Beach in February 2009, and in demonstrations at Fort Belvoir, Fort Monmouth and Quantico in 2009. FTL Solar has recently completed a contract for 14 units for the U.S. government, intended for testing for suitability for use overseas.

The PowerMod operates in a mobile environment and is suitable for first responder support for disaster events with FEMA, as well.

Ascent Solar is dedicated to the belief that industrial fabric will be the most important vehicle for delivering flexible photovoltaic modules to the world. The company is also dedicated to helping the traditional fabric product industries re-invent themselves to play an important role in the coming age of renewable energy.