A tipster sent along an interesting Army News Service article about a series of tests by the service to increase use of solar rechargers in deployed locales.
This is something the Marine Corps announced with great fanfare late last summer, saying they planned to deploy the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines to Afghanistan with portable solar panels, photovoltaic panels for tents and backpackable sun chargers for individual leathernecks.
Well it now seems the Army has jumped on the bandwagon with a variety of solar power options for tents and other shelters.
The U.S. Army is evaluating a host of flexible, portable, lightweight solar-powered shades and tent-like technologies.
The products are designed to allow expeditionary units to deploy with transferrable, exportable electrical power that can charge batteries, computers and other essential gear without needing fuel or a generator, service officials said.
Using a fast-evolving technology known as Flexible Photovoltaics (PV), the solar-powered tent structures convert light energy into electricity, thus removing the need to haul generators and large amounts fuel.
“They are ideal for charging up batteries, making sure your (communications), night vision goggles and computers are powered up. You don’t want a generator on top of a mountain, and you don’t want to have to bring fuel to a generator or haul batteries,” said Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment.
The difficulty of moving fuel and maintaining generators in an AO like Afghanistan is tough on a good day — not to mention the security problems that are part of simply moving from point A to point B. The Navy has made a major push into the world of “green power” and it’s not surprising its “expeditionary” sister service has gone whole hog into the solar world.
That’s why it’s such a good sign the Army is getting serious about alternative energy as well. Just take a stroll through an AUSA or Modern Day Marine trade show and you’ll see that what was once the expensive luxury of mountaineers who needed to recharge their sat phones for an Everest rescue is now fully proven and available at less Gucci costs.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
The Army has adopted green (lead free) bullets, why not green tents, with reflective panels on the top.. My question, you put up the solar tent, then you cover all those nice reflective panels with a camoflage net, how doe that work? Am I missing something here?
That and flexible polymer photovoltaics have at best 4% efficiency as far as I know
Okay, apparently neither of you have looked at the current or future generations of Solar Technology. The days of the reflective hard solar panels are over, at least in the military aspect. The polymer photovoltaic panels are slightly thicker then the normal tent panels and are a mat black. They roll or fold up the same as normal tent components for shipping and provide sufficient power for basic electrical needs. (ie. lights, chargers, radios) More importantly the panels can be inter-connected increasing the available electrical output. The technology is constantly improving and with the advances in the electrical storage medium the potential is there to aid an already strained logistics system.
And next thing you know we will have battery powered humvees that ….Nahh. Well, how about windmills that get all that hot air from you know where and… Nah on that too. Well, how about the Navy using sail…NiX, Nien Nyet! You got that? You go back to work digging ditches.
So you don't think camo netting would block out the sun enough to stop these panels? Or you don't notice that those nice black squares line up well in aircraft sights? I know the tailban doesn't have many planes but is this our last war ever? THat mistake has been made before to the detriment of many a soldier.
Exactly jojoe, and more to the point, it's not so much about the tactical concerns that Eric and Moondog bring up. It's more about global strategy, we can't remain a viable global force of change while going into operational areas with a total disregard for what we'll leave behind. The age of "total enemy destruction" is long past now. We as modern war-fighters must also consider, economic, ecologic and social implications of military operations in foreign countries. For assisting the reliability lab in getting the Rhino High Horsepower test equipment setup. This HALT testing is critical to the programs overall success. Through your selfless assistance we were able to maintain our test readiness and maintain our ability to provide our customers with the services they require.
I think any thing that makes a soldier more at ease in the rear is one of the best idea's the arm forces could do! I'm a viet-nam vet who barley visited the rear, food was cold, tents were few and far apart and 2 hot cans of beer were the luxury we had. I don't blame the corps for not having all these new and improved gear that we have now.. different war different world.. give the troops any thing and everything to improve the life of the rear area a place of safety and peace they earned during the daily patrols and uncertain danger!! CLP.J.B.BARRETT USMC
And I'm sure those cans of beer were the real thing and not of the NA variety that we are relegated to.
The military has always promoted the development of new technology (DARPA). I'll bet these panels have been tested stateside and are now being being field tested . They may need tweaking, they may not.
I knew an old horse soldier who was retired in 1943. Forty years later he still complained that trucks were unreliable because they broke down, ran out of gas and couldn't handle the roughest terrain. But, he could always rely on his horse. So saddle up naysayers the 10th cavalry reorganized is waiting.
…Okay- anyone? Who here has been to Kuwait or Bagram and have been housed in hard-wired tents prior to onward movement into theater? Does ANYONE remember ALL of the totally redundant and inane, "Don't overload the circuits!" or the "Watch what you plug in!" briefings? …And that was with reliable and hard-wired circuits! It is a problem, because we live with the "YouTube Generation", and despite being told not to, every private and his brother has to bring a Nintendo DS, a Laptop, a DVD Player, a hair dryer, an electric lawnmower, a waffle iron, a Foreman grill, blah, blah, blah….
…Now we are going to field solar tents, with varying electric outputs, when hard-wired tents are already chronically overloaded fire hazards?
…Oh- and this does not alleviate putting generators on hilltops, as you still have to run CP radio banks (and other apparatus that I will not name), which solar cells will not cover.
Long story short: no problem solved, possibly additional problems created (with joes vying to charge laptops and DS's), and HOW MUCH MORE than a perfectly good, standard, coated nylon GPMedium do these stupid things cost? …A fortune, I'm certain.
Real Headline? "Stupid Military Contractors Kow-Tow to Green Lobby at Taxpayer Expense!" What a waste!
(P.S. I don't want these P.o.S. on my property books, either.)