June 16, 2004

Ames, IA, USA: Iowa Thin Film Technologies Completes Solar Tent Prototypes for US Army

Iowa Thin Film Technologies, Inc., has completed the development of integrated solar technology for three Army tent prototypes. The tents integrate the company's PowerFilm® flexible solar panels directly with the tent fabric. Iowa Thin Film Technologies says that it is the only company in the world that has developed this fabric integration solar technology.

"Iowa Thin Film Technologies has developed a new fabric integrated solar technology for field shelters that will advance the Army's goal of reducing dependence on fuel-fired power generation and reducing logistics footprint," said Jean Hampel, Project Engineer of the Fabric Structures Group, U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center, at Natick, Massachusetts.

Iowa Thin Film's "PowerShade" Tent

The project began with the Army's growing demand for rapid-response portable and remote power. Through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, the Army's Natick Soldier Center searched for commercially available solar technology that had high potential for developing tents with their own built-in solar power generation.

The PowerFilm® solar technology was selected because it is very thin for integration with tent fabric, lightweight for transport, and made of durable plastic for rugged Army use. The Natick Soldier Center provided extensive Army input on the Army's portable and remote power needs and targeted applications. Iowa Thin Film Technologies selected development partners with world-class expertise in tents and tensile structure design.

Eureka, a division of Johnson Outdoors, the leading tent manufacturer, and FTL Design Engineering Studio, the leading tensile structure design engineering firm, completed the development team.

"The development of these finished prototypes solved a number of technical problems, to increase significantly our manufacturing throughput for fabric integrated solar products," said Dr. Frank Jeffrey, President of Iowa Thin Film Technologies.

The result of the development program is three Army tent prototypes with integrated solar power: quadrant, temper fly, and power shade field shelter products. The quadrant is designed to go over the top of existing tents. The temper fly is a modification of a standard Army tent design. The power shade, using a mesh fabric, can either be used over an existing tent or as a stand-alone structure. Power output from the three tents ranges from approximately 200 Watts to 1 Kilowatt. Several tents can be joined for additional power. The generated power will be stored in a bank of batteries and used for a variety of purposes, ranging from lighting to ventilation to power for field communication radios, GPS systems, and recharging satellite phones and laptop computers.

"Successfully integrating PowerFilm® flexible solar panels with fabric is a major milestone for fabric-based building integrated solar products for both military and commercial uses," noted Mike Coon, Chief Operating Officer of Iowa Thin Film Technologies.

Further details about: Iowa Thin Film Technologies