PORTABLE POWER That 10% low power warning on your phone or the red battery on your tablet are helpful reminders to plug in. But they’re also a sign of trouble when you’re in the woods, all the outlets in the airport waiting area are taken, or you forgot your charger. Having a lightweight, affordable portable solar panel that makes it convenient to recharge all those batteries is now a viable alternative, thanks to NASA. “We’ve had a lot of small business partners looking not just at advanced cell technology, but also at maintaining low costs,” says Mike Piszczor, chief of the Photovoltaic and Electrochemical Systems Branch at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. “For space applications, a typical cell that’s about 1.5 by 3 inches is $400–$500, and that’s because they go through flight qualification in addition to the manufacturing process used. It saves in the long run, because even with that very expensive cell technology, it’s so efficient that it saves in overall system co...
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