Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. announced that SkySentry, a high altitude vehicle developer headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO, received their first flexible CIGS PV array for an upcoming aerostat test in Sandusky, OH, scheduled for mid-September 2009. The aerostat is part of Army Space and Missile Defense Command’s High Altitude, Long-Endurance Testbed.

Charles Lambert, president and CEO of SkySentry, stated, “Power production and storage are the most difficult challenge of operating stationary vehicles for lengthy periods in the stratosphere. This test will use an aerostat, a tethered blimp, to characterize performance of a solar array on a dynamic platform, understand the performance of thin film arrays on a buoyant vehicle in terms of temperature and impact on an inflated substrate, determine the consistency of solar output for high altitude applications and quantify the effect of clouds and variable weather on performance of an aerostat-mounted array.”

Corollary benefits include comparing high efficiency solar array deployments on aerostats as primary or supplementary power generation with other technologies such as off-shore power generation with wind turbines.

“This shipment represents our first delivery of flexible monolithically integrated CIGS PV specifically for airship experimentation,” Ascent Solar president and CEO Farhad Moghadam added. “SkySentry’s testing of our photovoltaics on the aerostat, along with advanced power management, will demonstrate their approach towards an important application for national security and surveillance applications.”