SOLAR PANELS ON DEMONSTRATION AT NASA DRYDEN RESEARCH FACILITY.Byline: Daily News EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - High-efficiency solar cells solar cell, semiconductor devised to convert light to electric current. It is a specially constructed diode, usually made of silicon crystal. When light strikes the exposed active surface, it knocks electrons loose from their sites in the crystal. are producing electricity for a building in a demonstration at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. On March 26, 1976 it was named in honor of the late Hugh L. . Manufactured by SunPower Corp. of Sunnyvale, the A-300 silicon cells were derived from cells developed for solar-powered aircraft called the Helios and Pathfinder-Plus and are considered to be the most advanced photo-voltaic cells available for use on the ground, NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. officials said. On a sunny day, the two fixed-angle solar arrays and one single-axis sun-tracking array can produce up to five kilowatts of direct current power, which is equivalent to powering two or three average California homes. The sun-tracking array tilts to follow the sun. One of the fixed arrays contains standard cells, and is being used as a comparison for the newer fixed-cell array. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. SunPower, typical commercial-grade solar cells convert about 12 to 15 percent of the energy from the sunlight that falls on them into electricity. The new cells are 20 percent efficient, NASA said. The efficiency improvement is due largely to the routing of cell electrical connections An electrical connection between discrete points allows the flow of electrons, (current). A pair of connections is needed for a circuit. Between points with a low voltage difference between them, direct current flow can be controlled by a switch. behind the cells, which was required in the original design for the solar-powered aircraft to maximize the limited space available atop the wings. ``It is a grid-connected system, so it is putting power back into the electrical grid,'' stated Jon Ferrall, NASA Dryden electrical engineer, who managed the installation of the solar array demonstration site. The system is helping power Dryden's 7,870-square-foot Public Affairs Those public information, command information, and community relations activities directed toward both the external and internal publics with interest in the Department of Defense. Also called PA. See also command information; community relations; public information. and Commercialization building. ``The demonstration is comparing the potential advantage of the tracking array over the fixed array, verifying ver·i·fy tr.v. ver·i·fied, ver·i·fy·ing, ver·i·fies 1. To prove the truth of by presentation of evidence or testimony; substantiate. 2. the effectiveness of the dirt-repellant coating over the protective glass housing the solar cells, and the effect, if any, of dust and dirt on the arrays,'' Ferrall said. If the demonstration is successful, it could be a major step toward transferring the solar-aircraft technology to the commercial market, NASA said. A second phase of the demonstration will consist of establishing a Web site that will allow the public to view ``real-time'' information on the Dryden solar demonstration site, as well as other solar array sites planned for construction in Hawaii and Arizona. Long-term plans include construction of a solar ``farm'' at NASA Dryden that would power up to one-third of the center's electrical needs. The solar power demonstration site, which cost around $130,000, was funded through a technology commercialization allocation The apportionment or designation of an item for a specific purpose or to a particular place. In the law of trusts, the allocation of cash dividends earned by a stock that makes up the principal of a trust for a beneficiary usually means that the dividends will be treated as from NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology program. The same program tested the AeroVironment Helios and Pathfinder-Plus solar-powered aircraft. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) High-efficiency solar cells are producing electricity for a building in a demonstration at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The sun-tracking array tilts to follow the sun. NASA |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion