News

4 September 2009

 

Ascent provides flexible CIGS PV array to SkySentry for airship test

Ascent Solar Technologies Inc of Thornton, CO, USA, a developer of flexible thin-film photovoltaic modules based on copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), says that SkySentry, a high-altitude vehicle developer in Colorado Springs, CO, has received its first flexible CIGS PV array for an upcoming aerostat test in Sandusky, OH, scheduled for mid-September. The aerostat is part of US Army Space and Missile Defense Command’s High Altitude, Long-Endurance (HALE) testbed.

“Power production and storage are the most difficult challenges of operating stationary vehicles for lengthy periods in the stratosphere,” says SkySentry’s president & CEO Charles Lambert. “This test will use an aerostat - a tethered blimp - to characterize performance of a solar array on a dynamic platform, understand the performance of thin-film arrays on a buoyant vehicle in terms of temperature and impact on an inflated substrate, determine the consistency of solar output for high-altitude applications and quantify the effect of clouds and variable weather on performance of an aerostat-mounted array,” he adds.

Corollary benefits include comparing high-efficiency solar array deployments on aerostats as primary or supplementary power generation with other technologies such as off-shore power generation with wind turbines.

“This shipment represents our first delivery of flexible monolithically integrated CIGS PV specifically for airship experimentation,” says Ascent Solar’s president & CEO Farhad Moghadam. “SkySentry’s testing of our photovoltaics on the aerostat, along with advanced power management, will demonstrate their approach towards an important application for national security and surveillance applications.”

See related items:

Ascent internally certifies module encapsulation for flexible CIGS PV laminate

Ascent Solar’s production CIGS PV modules exceed 10% efficiency

Ascent Solar opens expanded headquarters in Colorado

Search: Ascent Solar CIGS thin-film PV modules

Visit: www.SkySentry.net

Visit: www.ascentsolar.com