The troops in the battle fields will now carry a new weapon to combat enemy- solar panels.
Through a $ 2 million project, flexible solar panels made out of secret compound and weighing just 14 oz are being developed and studied by the Australian army who along with Elite British SAS fight regularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The panels will use artificial photosynthesis thereby using sun’s radiation and not direct sunlight. The panels would prove worthy even in cloudy situations.
A lot of power is required in the battle fields to energise various sophisticated equipments. The troops have to come back to base again, to take newer batteries with them, once they run out of power.
These dangerous batteries contain toxic chemicals and pollutants and can endanger soldiers as they have the risk of exploding if exposed to extreme heat and fire.
Not only does the lithium batteries take longer time to dispose and pose threat to the environment as they are quite polluting.
On an average, the Defence purchases 70,000 disposable lithium batteries for its radios alone.
The solar panels will now become an essential power source and will be fixed to the soldier’s back pack to power advanced equipments like radio, communication and night sight gadgets, remote sensors and cameras to locate enemy’s position.
Military for long has been looking for green options in batteries to lower the environment impact and the burden that is attached with every battery.
As Dr Gavin Tulloch, the director of the solar panel project says, ”
This is a win-win for defence because it addresses some of those problems as well as their operational needs.”
Via: Daily Mail
