Tent-like solar fabric could charge cars, help with disaster relief

Tent-like solar fabric could charge cars, help with

disaster relief

Imagine being able to pitch solar tents in situations where you need both some protective cover and access to clean energy -- perhaps as a car port for a plug-in EV or a disaster relief shelter. A new tensile solar fabric from FTL Solar could be used in variety of ways and, as a bonus, it isn't an eyesore either.

A great example of highly functional design, the PowerMods as they're called bring together super-strong fabric and thin-film PV. The possible uses for this solar fabric are almost endless: battery charging stations, medical units, military bases, temporary housing, energy pods for remote villages, solar arrays in city parks, etc.

FTL has four different models of the PowerMod, including smaller-scale lean-tos and large car-park arrays. You can check out the specs for each model here. Each of the models' outputs are calculated on five hours of sunlight ranging from 1,068 Wh a day for the smallest model to to 2,040 kWh a day for the largest.