Portable Solar Power encompasses the consumer part of today's solar markets. Used for recharging
consumer electronics such as laptops, cell phones, GPS, and mp3
players. Meanwhile Remote Power chargers are primarily used for
recharging applications such as remote lighting, refrigeration,
pumping, and GPS asset tracking. Portable and Remote chargers are
either directly integrated with consumer electronic products or are
designed as stand alone chargers. PowerFilm® integrated solar panels (thin film on plastic) are developed and manufactured with a proprietary roll process and they are truly rollable unlike other thin film technologies that are only somewhat flexible. PowerFilm solar panels are all monolithically integrated which eliminates the need for damage-prone manual connections of individual solar cells. PowerFilm is made of silicon, a natural resource in abundant supply. PowerFilm is Cadmium Free, unlike some other solar technologies, and performs well in diverse environments, including hot sun, and does not suffer from wasted over-voltage.
We have worked closely with our strategic manufacturing parnter, PowerFilm, to develop custom solar panels to fit 36 and 48 Volt golf carts. Click here for more information about our Solar Golf Carts.
BUILDING INTEGRATED SOLAR POWER
Building
integrated solar electric power, sometimes called building integrated
photovoltaics (BIPV), is the combination of thin and flexible solar
panels with standard building materials such as standing seam metal
roofing, single-ply elastomeric membrane roofing, or architectural
fabric. Thin and flexible PowerFilm solar panels have an attractive
design and can be installed in a low-cost manner. This makes these
solar panels especially well suited for building integrated
applications.The electricity generated by the solar panels is stored in local batteries and converted to 110 AC for general wall outlet use, or, in some cases, is used directly for low-voltage lighting systems. The buildings can be either off-grid or grid-connected.
PowerFilm is in the advanced stages of development of its 20-year lifetime building integrated solar panels for integration with metal roofing, membrane roofing, and architectural fabric. The company has completed a 10-kilowatt demonstration and evaluation project on metal roofing.